Table of Diversity Weekly Preview: One of Our Favorite Books!
In 2020, I was pregnant with my first kid and the world was shut down because of the pandemic. I decided to read a couple books before baby arrived and because of the focus on racial injustice that happened in my backyard with Breonna Taylor and around the country with George Floyd and Ahmad Arbery, I read social justice books. The first book I read was The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. I'd had this book on the shelf for a while and thought that early-2020 was a good time to pick it up.
I'm not sure if it was the pregnancy hormones or the state of the world, but I found the book to be extremely heavy. I needed to talk it through with someone where I could be vulnerable, we could dissect the book, and maybe even ask some experts to join to tell us how we could facilitate change in our own corner of the world. So, I started a book club! I found other leaders who had read the book or wanted to read the book and we met (virtually) for a discussion. It led to almost 3 years of book discussions and trainings that have cascaded through many organizations.
As a result, I've read so many great books that I'll include in various editions of the Table of Diversity Weekly. For this preview, let's discuss The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
Check out the rest of this edition of the Table of Diversity Weekly!