If you’ve been thinking about joining a book club in the new year, the Bronx Museum will be reading Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its urgent lessons for our own. The first meetup is on January 7 where there will be introductions and free books available. One Book One Bronx hosts community-based conversations on a wide variety of books. The club is open to everyone, and free books are available.
Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by Eddie S. Glaude Jr., 232 pgs
Begin Again is one of the great books on James Baldwin (who attended high school in the Bronx) and a powerful reckoning with America’s ongoing failure to confront the lies it tells itself about race. Just as in Baldwin’s “after times,” argues Eddie S. Glaude Jr., when white Americans met the civil rights movement’s call for truth and justice with blind rage and the murders of movement leaders, so in our moment were the Obama presidency and the birth of Black Lives Matter answered with the ascendance of Trump and the violent resurgence of white nationalism.
“Begin Again is an unparalleled masterpiece of social criticism. Glaude thinks alongside America’s finest essayist, matching the master’s firepower, brilliance, courage, and sensitivity at every turn.”—Imani Perry, author of Breathe and Looking for Lorraine.
Where: The Bronx Museum, 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th St.
When: Saturdays at 12pm:
Jan 7: Intros and free book giveaways
Jan 14: Chapters 1&2
Jan 21: Chapters 3&4
Jan 28: Chapters 5&6
Feb 4: Chapters 7 to end
This public discussion is free and open to the public, and presented as part of the exhibition Swagger and Tenderness: The South Bronx Portraits of John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres, on view through April 2022 at The Bronx Museum.
Swagger and Tenderness: The South Bronx Portraits of John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres
Inspired and enabled by the people who live in the vibrant community where the Bronx Museum is located, local artists John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres have become world-famous for their portraits of their South Bronx neighbors. While museum-goers elsewhere have celebrated these renowned sculptures honoring Bronxites for four decades, this is the first time a large group of these artworks will be exhibited together at home for the very people represented therein.
One Book One Bronx hosts restorative conversations related to gentrification, social justice, women’s empowerment, criminal justice, and racial inequality. Discussions reflect the borough’s racial, economic, and gender demographics and build bridges to engagement while (re)sparking a love of literature.
Register here.