The Equity and Social Justice Reading Group Speaker Series
With generous funding from a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant, the Equity and Social Justice Reading Group is pleased to announce a short speaker series
Tentatively, both events will be remote and live, and open to all English students. Check back here for more information for how to attend.
The Equity and Social Justice Reading Group is intended for undergraduate English majors interested in situating literature at the center of discussions about equity and social justice. Most involved students in year one had an interest in secondary education, but that is not a requirement for involvement. Readings in year one (2020-21) focused primarily upon white supremacy and racism against African Americans, with a particular interest in Afrofuturism. Next year we plan to expand our focus.
In honor of Banned Book Week 2021, the American Library Association announced that the most commonly challenged books in the last two years have been those that addressed the LGBTQ+ community and those that addressed police violence against people of color. Our preliminary plans for 2021-22 are to build our reading list around these texts.
The ESJ Reading Group grew from two initiatives: One was the ESJ Committee Reading Group of the Neag School of Education, which was for faculty and graduate students and focused more on critical texts than on literary texts. Two was Professor Jason Courtmanche's and doctoral candidate Kiedra Taylor's induction into the honor society Phi Kappa Phi (PKP), which is dedicated to service and leadership. Bringing this group to the undergrads is our way of offering service and promoting student leadership.
The ESJRG is designed to be student centered. Professor Courtmanche and GA Kiedra Taylor will make book suggestions and facilitate discussions, but ultimately the final decisions on what books to read will be made by the students and the weekly discussions will be student-driven. In 2020-21, we held our meetings remotely every other week. We will gauge student interest regarding how to meet come fall.
Complete this form if you are interested.
Adopted Texts for 2021-22:
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http://www.alexgino.com/george/ | "When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.
George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part . . . because she's a boy. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte - but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all". Description by: |
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds | "The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.
Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas--and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives". Description by: STAMPED: Racism, Antiracism, and You — IXK. (ibramxkendi.com) |
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely | "Rashad Butler and Quinn Collins are two young men, one black and one white, whose lives are forever changed by an act of extreme police brutality. Rashad wakes up in a hospital. Quinn saw how he got there. And so did the video camera that taped the cop beating Rashad senseless into the pavement. Thus begins ALL AMERICAN BOYS, written in tandem by two of our great literary talents, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. The story is told in Rashad and Quinn’s alternating perspectives, as they grapple with the complications that spin out of this violent moment and reverberate in their families, school, and town. Over the course of one week, Rashad tries to find the strength to accept his role as the symbolic figure of the community’s response to police brutality, and Quinn tries to decide where he belongs in a town bitterly divided by racial tension. Ultimately, the two narratives weave back together, in the moment in which the two boys, now changed, can actually see each other—the first step for healing and understanding in a country still deeply sick with racial injustice. Reynolds pens the voice of Rashad, and Kiely has taken the voice of Quinn".
Description by: |
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Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson | "From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication.
In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself". Description by: |
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie | "Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live". Description by: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (goodreads.com) |
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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas | "Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life". Description by: |
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Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin | "Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender, and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves".
Description by: Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin (goodreads.com) |
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Drama written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier |
"From Raina Telgemeier, the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award-winning author of Smile and Sisters!Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school’s production of Moon over Mississippi, she can’t really sing. Instead she’s the set designer for the drama department’s stage crew, and this year she’s determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn’t know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen. And when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier"! Description by: |
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https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/670206/the-black-friend-on-being-a-better-white-person-by-frederick-joseph/ | "From the perspective of the friend everyone should have, Frederick Joseph offers an essential read for white people who want to be better about race—and people of color who long to see their experiences validated."
Description by: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/48589165-the-black-friend
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https://www.antiracistworkshop.com/ | "Together let’s dispel the myth of scarcity: That there aren’t any quality writers of color out there. Follow the link to access—and add to—an ever-evolving, multi-genre compilation of contemporary writers of color and progressive online publishing platforms. This living document is intended as a dynamic educational resource and springboard for further research. Call it recommended reading."
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https://www.tcpress.com/letting-go-of-literary-whiteness-9780807763056 | "Rooted in examples from their own and others’ classrooms, the authors offer discipline-specific practices for implementing antiracist literature instruction in White-dominant schools. Each chapter explores a key dimension of antiracist literature teaching and learning, including designing literature-based units that emphasize racial literacy, selecting literature that highlights voices of color, analyzing Whiteness in canonical literature, examining texts through a critical race lens, managing challenges of race talk, and designing formative assessments for racial literacy and identity growth."
Description by: https://www.tcpress.com/letting-go-of-literary-whiteness-9780807763056 |
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https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608329/this-is-my-america-by-kim-johnson/ | "Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time–her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present?"
Description by: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608329/this-is-my-america-by-kim-johnson/ |
Below is the list of texts from 2020-21:
Other Resources:
Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning Collective
NCTE Resolution on Social Justice in Literacy Education
NCTE Resolution on Students' Rights to their Own Language
CCCC Demand for Black Linguistic Justice
Reading and Teaching the Rainbow
Gary B. v. Snyder: The Constitutional Right to Literacy
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