Fall 2023 Racial Justice Book Circle: "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness"

We would like to invite you to join FLC's Fall 2023 racial justice book circle. We will be reading and discussing Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. We are excited to continue these district-wide discussions and would like to encourage everyone to attend.

About the Book:
Once in a great while a book comes along that changes the way we see the world and helps to fuel a nationwide social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book. Praised by Harvard Law professor Lani Guinier as "brave and bold," this book directly challenges the notion that the election of Barack Obama signals a new era of colorblindness. With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control—relegating millions to a permanent second-class status—even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. In the words of Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, this book is a "call to action."

Details:
Wednesdays from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (dates September 13 through November 8) via Zoom.

Reading Schedule

• Week 1 (9/13): Prefaces - Chapter 2
• Week 2 (9/20): Prefaces - Chapter 2
• Week 3 (9/27): Prefaces - Chapter 2
• Week 4 (10/4): Chapters 3 and 4
• Week 5 (10/11): Chapters 3 and 4
• Week 6 (10/18): Chapters 3 and 4
• Week 7 (10/25): Chapters 5 and 6
• Week 8 (11/1): Chapters 5 and 6
• Week 9 (11/8): Chapters 5 and 6

Several e-copies of the book are available via Los Rios Libraries.

RSVP here*
*(RSVP not required but appreciated to gauge size.)

This book circle will follow a similar format to our previous book circles and will include time for personal reflection followed by active discussion in small groups using a shared leadership philosophy. Reading of the chapters in advance is expected in order to fully engage in the discussion.

Meets State Professional Development Guideline B: Staff development, in-service training, and instructional improvement and Guideline F: Related activities, such as student advising, guidance, orientation, matriculation services, and student, faculty, and staff diversity.