The community is invited to read Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and engage in a virtual conversation with a panel of local educators and students, facilitated by Andover resident, Delia Duran-Clark, Principal, Esperanza Academy in Lawrence and Kwesi Moody, Assistant Principal, Andover High School.

Register through Zoom. This event will not be recorded. Send your questions for the panel in advance to straina@mhl.org.

Watch an interview with Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Find a list of discussion questions here.

About the book: The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. Stamped 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 be discredited. Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award winner Jason Reynolds and based on Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s scholarship, 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.

Reynolds (Look Both Ways) lends his signature flair to remixing Kendi’s award-winning Stamped from the Beginning into a powerful “not a history book” primer on the historical roots and present-day manifestations of antiblack racism in America. In five sections, Reynolds’s conversational text discusses the influential figures, movements, and events that have propagated racist ideas, beginning in 1415 with the publication of the infamous work that laid the groundwork for subsequent religious justifications of enslaving African peoples and continuing through the “war on drugs” and #BlackLivesMatter. Employing a format that hews closely to Kendi’s original, Reynolds discusses and differentiates between segregationist (“a hater”), assimilationist (“a coward”), and antiracist (“someone who truly loves”) rhetoric via figures such as Angela Davis, W.E.B. DuBois, Thomas Jefferson, and Cotton Mather. Short chapters, lively phrasing (“You know what hits do—they spread”), and intentional breaks (“Time Out,” “Let’s all just take a deep breath”) help maintain a brisk, compelling pace. Told impressively economically, loaded with historical details that connect clearly to current experiences, and bolstered with suggested reading and listening selected specifically for young readers, Kendi and Reynolds’s volume is essential, meaningfully accessible reading. ---Publishers Weekly

Courageous Conversations, in partnership with Memorial Hall Library, is offering four programs focusing on the justice system and issues related to mass incarceration and the very real everyday impacts on communities, especially Black and Latinx communities. The online conversations are designed for everyone to participate in meaningful conversation and developing actions that can be taken.

Each program focuses on racial justice with local activist voices at the core. The first centers on a book discussion, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, the second and third on TEDx presentations and the final program in the series culminates in a panel with a local nonprofit working towards racial justice. All are open to the public, registration is required.

Since 2017, Courageous Conversations has been offering programming to raise awareness and participation on important topics for our community to address. Past programs have focused on race, equity, and inclusion, immigration, and affordable housing.

Hosted by Courageous Conversations and Memorial Hall Library.

Upcoming programs in the series:

2/10/2021 @ 7:00 PM - The Injustice of This Moment is Not an Aberration: The Work of Michelle Alexander
3/10/2021 @ 7:00 PM - We Need to Talk About An Injustice: The Work of Bryan Stevenson
4/14/2021 @ 7:00 PM - What Positive Justice Looks Like: A Panel Discussion with UTEC (United Teen Equality Center) (Breaking Barriers to Youth Success)