Join the history book club
Every month, we read and discuss books about history we never learned in school via Zoom. Join us!
Banned Books Week ends today. But just like Hispanic Heritage Month (ending 10/15/24), Indigenous Peoples’ Day (coming 10/14/24), LGBT History Month (coming Oct. 2024), Black History Month (ended Feb. 2024), and countless others, these days and months shine the spotlight on books, people, history, and subjects we need to continue learning about every day.
That's why I started Uniting Through History in 2020. To invite people to learn and connect with Black history—not just in February, but all year long. To understand that Black history is not apart from American history, but rather a part of American history. To see that Black history IS American history.
While Uniting Through History's Hip History Contest for young people, along with other initiatives, have temporarily been put on hold, the monthly History Book Club has not. For nearly four years, a small, diverse group of us have been meeting monthly via Zoom.
Now, I'd like to invite you to join.
Visit the website for more information or click here to join the mailing list. Once you join, you'll get the book list and emails allowing you to RSVP to get the Zoom link for each meeting.
Here's what we're reading in October 2024
Given that politics and elections are on most people's minds, in October we're wrapping up on The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt by Jill Watts.
In The Black Cabinet, we're learning about educator and activist, Mary McLeod Bethune, and the group of Black male lawyers, economists, journalists, and sociologists she worked with to get President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to address systemic and economic inequities Black Americans faced and have Black people included in the New Deal’s programs.
We're learning about Bethune's close relationship to Eleanor Roosevelt, which gave Bethune access to the president that the men in the Cabinet didn't have.
We're learning about the political victories—and defeats—the Cabinet experienced, all while working behind the scenes and never being officially acknowledged.
The combination of history and the inner workings of politics could have been the ultimate cure for insomnia. Instead, author Jill Watts has kept me awake in bed, intrigued and turning pages, instead of snoring. I can't wait to finish and continue discussing this book!
Meeting: October 30, 2024—7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Central Time. Subscribe to get on the list to RSVP.
Here’s what we’re reading November - December 2024
Since we spend two months on each book, for November and December, we'll be reading My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem.
A long-time book club member raved about this book so I decided to give it a try. (If ratings matter to you, Amazon has 5,518 ratings averaging 4.8 stars and Goodreads has 10,516 ratings averaging 4.4 stars as of today.)
What appeals to me about this book is the unique angle on racism and how it affects us all, regardless of race. For example, as stated on the publisher's website:
The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Menakem argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn’t just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police.
Meetings: November 27, 2024—7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Central Time and December 18, 2024—7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Central Time. The December meeting was moved up a week since our regular meeting day falls on Christmas. Subscribe to get on the list to RSVP.
Here's what you missed—but you'll want to read
We’ve read some great books in 2024:
The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. by Peniel E. Joseph compared and contrasted Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and showed how they weren’t as different as the media made them out to be. The impetus for choosing this book was the National Geographic article I wrote titled, “Martin Luther King and Malcolm X only met once. Here’s the story behind an iconic image,” which kicked off National Geographic’s eight-episode series, “Genius: MLK/X.”
Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom by Keisha N. Blain. This book was unique in that it covered Black women internationally who started civil rights movements and were behind some of the early movements in the U.S. Once again, I learned about women and history I previously knew nothing about.
The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century by Peniel E. Joseph. The book’s description perfectly sums up why I chose this book, “In The Third Reconstruction, distinguished historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a powerful and personal new interpretation of recent history. The racial reckoning that unfolded in 2020, he argues, marked the climax of a Third Reconstruction: a new struggle for citizenship and dignity for Black Americans, just as momentous as the movements that arose after the Civil War and during the civil rights era.”
The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis by Maria Smilios. In 1929, Black nurses from the South were recruited to work in hospitals in New York City with promises of good money, a lucrative career, and freedom from Jim Crow. Instead, they had been recruited to assist poor patients with tuberculosis after white nurses quit, refusing to care for them. This book read like a novel, showcasing these amazing women who, for 20 years, helped desegregate New York City’s hospitals and cure tuberculosis. A must-read.
Don't miss out in 2025!
Next month, I’ll start working on next year's calendar, so make sure you subscribe to not only join us and get advance notice of what we'll be reading, but so you can share ideas for books YOU want to read.
Hope to see you in October!
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
I’m a proud member of the 60+ professional writers from across Iowa that make up The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Subscribe to the weekly roundup to get highlights of the newest articles written by members.
Dr. Bob Leonard never disappoints at Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture and one of his recent columns, “Race, Gender, and the Nonverbal Power of Kamala Harris” didn’t disappoint. Read Dr. Bob’s (and his fellow collaborators’) unique angle on the recent presidential debate.
Nik Heftman of The Seven Times debuted his new documentary on the career and works of Caleb Rainey, The Negro Artist, at the Okoboji Writers Retreat on 9/22/24. This documentary is beyond amazing and needs to be in every movie theater nationally and internationally! Watch the trailer and spread the word.
This is just a sampling of the uber-talented IWC writers. Subscribe and discover your new favorites!