Reading for Understanding - Dock C. Bracy Center Book Club

Reading for Understanding is open to the public and hosted by the Dock C. Bracy Center for Human Reconciliation. To learn more and register for the book club, please click here.

The 2022 Reading for Understanding book discussion schedule is as follows:

"The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together" by Heather McGhee, Wednesday, January 26, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"How the Word Is Passed" by Clint Smith, Wednesday, February 23, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning" by Cathy Park Hong, Wednesday, March 23, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"Four Hundred Souls" by Ibram X. Kendi, Keisha N Blain, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"You Are Your Best Thing" by Tarana Burke, Brené Brown, Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett, Wednesday, July 27, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America" by Ijeoma Oluo, Wednesday, August 24, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person" by Frederick Joseph, Wednesday, September 28, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man" by Emmanuel Acho, Wednesday, October 26, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"The Purpose of Power" by Alicia Garza, Wednesday, November 23, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern
"Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption" by Bryan Stevenson, Wednesday, December 28, 2022, 7-9pm Eastern

 

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together By Heather McGhee Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9780525509561
Availability: Available to order; typically arrives at Bookmarks in 7-10 days
Published: One World - February 16th, 2021

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • One of today’s most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone—not just for people of color.


How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America By Clint Smith Cover Image
$29.00
ISBN: 9780316492935
Availability: Available to order; typically arrives at Bookmarks in 7-10 days
Published: Little, Brown and Company - June 1st, 2021

This “important and timely” (Drew Faust, Harvard Magazine) #1 New York Times bestseller examines the legacy of slavery in America—and how both history and memory continue to shape our everyday lives.

Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are ho


Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning By Cathy Park Hong Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781984820389
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: One World - March 2nd, 2021

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • ONE OF TIME’S 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE • A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness


Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 By Ibram X. Kendi (Editor), Keisha N. Blain (Editor) Cover Image
By Ibram X. Kendi (Editor), Keisha N. Blain (Editor)
$32.00
ISBN: 9780593134047
Availability: Available to order; typically arrives at Bookmarks in 7-10 days
Published: One World - February 2nd, 2021

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present—edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire.


Barracoon: The Story of the Last
By Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker (Foreword by), Deborah G. Plant (Introduction by)
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062748218
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Amistad - January 7th, 2020

New York Times Bestseller •  TIME Magazine’s Best Nonfiction Book of 2018 • New York Public Library’s Best Book of 2018 • NPR’s Book Concierge Best Book of 2018 • Economist Book of the Year • SELF.com’s Best Books of 2018 • Audible’s Best of the Year • BookRiot’s Best Audio Boo


You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience By Tarana Burke (Editor), Brené Brown (Editor) Cover Image
By Tarana Burke (Editor), Brené Brown (Editor)
$27.00
ISBN: 9780593243626
Availability: Available to order; typically arrives at Bookmarks in 7-10 days
Published: Random House - April 27th, 2021

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.


The Vanishing Half: A Novel By Brit Bennett Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780525536291
Availability: Available to order; typically arrives at Bookmarks in 7-10 days
Published: Riverhead Books - June 2nd, 2020

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES * THE WASHINGTON POST * NPR * PEOPLE * TIME MAGAZINE* VANITY FAIR * GLAMOUR 


2021 WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST


Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America By Ijeoma Oluo Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781580059527
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Seal Press - November 9th, 2021

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race, an  “illuminating” (New York Times Book Review) history of white male identity.

What happens to a country that tells generation after generation of white men that they deserve power?


The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person By Frederick Joseph Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781536217018
Availability: Available to order; typically arrives at Bookmarks in 7-10 days
Published: Candlewick - December 1st, 2020

The instant New York Times bestseller!

Writing from the perspective of a friend, Frederick Joseph offers candid reflections on his own experiences with racism and conversations with prominent artists and activists about theirs—creating an essential read for white people who are committed anti-racists and those newly come to the cause of racial justice.


Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man By Emmanuel Acho Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781250800473
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book - November 9th, 2021

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

An urgent primer on race and racism, from the host of the viral hit video series

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man”


The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart By Alicia Garza Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780525509707
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: One World - September 7th, 2021

An essential guide to building transformative movements to address the challenges of our time, from one of the country’s leading organizers and a co-creator of Black Lives Matter
 
“Excellent and provocative . . . a gateway [to] urgent debates.”—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The New Yorker


Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption By Bryan Stevenson Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780812984965
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: One World - August 18th, 2015

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX • A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.