Resources for March 2021

  • Microagressions

    During our February program, Lynn Mazza explores the concept of “microaggressions.” Read more about this topic as it relates to Black people: “Racial Microaggressions are Making Black People Sick”:  The Washington Post

  • Speaker Series on the Abenaki

CCV invites us to take part in their virtual speaker series on the Abenaki.  The first event of the series was held on February 18 and featured Abenaki Storyteller Jesse Bowman Bruchac.

Our book group is currently reading books by Native American authors. In February, we read The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. In March, we are reading There, There by Native American author Tommy Orange. We are delighted to discover that we can learn more about our own indigenous people in Vermont by signing up for this series.

Register for the remaining programs in the series at https://now.ccv.edu/ccv-to-host-abenaki-speaker-series/

Don Stevens, History of Abenaki in Vermont, Sovereignty, and Recognition, March 18, 5-6 p.m.
Don Stevens, Chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk – Abenaki Nation, is an award-winning leader, businessman, writer, and lecturer. He has been featured in magazines, books, TV shows, and documentaries. Don was appointed to the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs by Governor Douglas in 2006 for two terms where he served as Chair. He led the fight to obtain legal recognition for the Abenaki People in Vermont. He was able to acquire tribal land for the Nulhegan Tribe which had been absent for over 200 years. He has over 26 years of experience in successfully developing Information Technology, Logistics, and Manufacturing strategies for multi-million-dollar companies. He proudly served in the US Army and graduated from Champlain College with a degree in Computer Information Systems.

Melody Walker Brook, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Healing, and the Path Forward, April 15, 5-6 p.m.
Melody Walker Brook is an Abenaki educator, activist, and artist. She is a citizen of the Elnu Abenaki Band and has previously served as the vice chair and chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs. She received her master’s degree in history from the University of Vermont. She has been an adjunct professor at both Champlain College and Johnson State College where she taught Native American History and Culture, Abenakis and Their Neighbors, and Native American Spirituality. Within her community, Melody has focused on cultural revitalization and concepts of personhood. She is a fingerweaver, beadworker, traditional tattoo artist, and interprets belts. Melody lives in Barre, Vermont. All events will be held on Zoom.

Our book group has read several books by African American authors.  We were pleased to learn about the following programs related to African American authors.

  1. The Literacy and Social Justice Series

    A series presented in the fall, Words Shape Our World is being repeated in honor of Black History Month:

Champions of Literacy: The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project

Wednesday, February 24 – 7:00PM EST

My Time to Speak: Reclaiming Ancestry and Confronting Race by Ilia Calderón

Thursday, February 25 – 7:00PM EST

A Tribute to Toni Morrison: A Song of Solomon Marathon Reading

Friday, February 26 – 7:00PM EST

Saturday, February 27 – 7:00PM EST

Sunday, February 28 – 7:00PM EST

 2. The T Book Group (from the New York Times)

 The T Book Group, from the New York Times, is hosting a virtual program featuring Nella Larsen’s book Passing (1929) in which old friends, both Black women, reunite in 1920s Harlem, despite the fact that one of them is living as a white person. Written from the perspective of Irene Redfield, who finds herself both drawn to and repelled by her elegant childhood companion Clare Kendry, who is concealing her heritage from her husband, the work follows the two protagonists’ increasingly fraught entanglement in each other’s lives as they reckon with the costs of deception and frustrated desire. Critically acclaimed at the time of its publication, the novel captures the social anxieties that plagued America during the Great Migration and remains a resonant portrait of a fractured nation.

A virtual discussion of the book will be held on March 9. The discussion  features the novelist Brit Bennett in conversation with T features director Thessaly La Force,. And, in the weeks leading up to the event, look for articles on “Passing” at tmagazine.com.  Note: This date conflicts with our March branch program. However, if you register, you will receive a Zoom link to the recording: Register

Buy Passing for $.99 on GooglePlay

Buy Passing for $4.95 on Amazon Kindle

Get Free .PDF of Passing on Open Library