The sixth round of the Great Michigan Read, a biennial statewide literary program of the Michigan Humanities Council, has taken off at Peter White Public Library. The 2017/18 GMR title is X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon. We have 10 books available for checking out (or placing holds), book marks, and Reader’s Guides in the new book area on the main floor. X: A Novel is a riveting coming-of-age story that explores Malcolm X’s early years in Michigan. By age 15, a self-destructive Malcolm moves back and forth from Michigan to Boston and New York. He works a number of jobs, begins to deal drugs and run numbers, and at age 21 is arrested for larceny and B&E. Inside prison, Malcolm is introduced to Islam and steps out on the journey toward becoming a significant voice in America’s history, and a universally recognized civil rights leader and human rights activist. Co-author Shabazz is a daughter of Malcolm X.

Co-author Kekla Magoon will present at the library on May 15 from 7-8:30 p.m. A Q&A, book sales, and autographing are part of the event. Staff from the Michigan Humanities Council will introduce Magoon and meet community residents.

In honor of the GMR, the library’s Tasty Reads Book Club will discuss Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry at noon on April 10 in the Shiras Room. Natasha Lantz from Northern Vegans will speak. Bring a dish to pass inspired by the book.

Dr. Alan Willis from NMU’s History Department will speak on “The Religious Journey of Malcolm X” at 7:00 p.m. on April 17 in the Community Room. The following evening, April 18 at 6:00, Spike Lee’s film “Malcolm X” will be shown in the Community Room.

Local students have created a mural honoring Malcolm X and his legacy. More art is forthcoming. A Teen Art & Photography Reception will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. on Thursday, May 3 in the library’s Teen Zone. For more information, visit www.pwpl.info, or call 906-226-4321.

Herb Boyd, an award-winning journalist, relates the history of Detroit through the African-American experience in Black Detroit: A People’s History of Self Determination. Boyd takes us from the time of Cadillac, through labor in auto plants and the music of Motown, to today’s efforts to recreate a viable city in twenty-first century America. In this Michigan Notable Book, Boyd explores the rich culture, religious life, economics and politics of black Detroit, including the influences of Malcolm X.

The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Freedom in the City of the Straits provides a new look at the history of Detroit by exposing the slavery and forced labor that existed at its heart. UM Professor Tiya Miles researched the lives of unfree Native American and African-American people in colonial Detroit through the wills, letters, and account books of slaveholders. She establishes the significance of slavery in Detroit in work such as fur trading, freighting, and farming.

Michael W. Twitty, founder of Afroculinaria, the first blog about African American culinary history, traces his own family ancestry and the African American experience in general through the vehicle of Southern food in his memoir, The Cooking Gene. Twitty’s exploration ranges from Africa to America, from colonial times, slavery and the Civil War, to black-owned organic farms in Georgia. He shows how several centuries of African American cooking molded Southern cuisine and mixes in race, politics, and economics. Food is one avenue through which everyone can sit together at the same table. This book will inspire cooks and genealogists, although I’ll probably skip the roast possum.

Matt Taibbi’s book I Can’t Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street looks at the killing of 43-year-old Eric Garner by NYC police in July 2014. When NYPD officers put Garner in a chokehold, Garner cried out, “I can’t breathe.” His last words became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement. Taibbi introduces us to all sides of Garner and explores the social ills that contributed to his death including poverty, mass incarceration, racial inequality in law enforcement, and a flawed justice system.

An appeal for bridging the racial divide is found in Michael Eric Dyson’s sermon, Tears We Cannot Stop. Dyson, an ordained minister, opens this work with a call to worship, and ends with benediction. Within this weekly framework, Dyson discusses the role of race and privilege within mainstream culture. He acknowledges our need to face difficult truths, develop empathy, and increase racial literacy. The Great Michigan Read program and your local library are great places to start this work.

By Cathy Seblonka

Collection Development