Expand Your Mind with Upcoming Civil Rights Action Group Activities

Contributed by Shara Durkee.

Book Club Meeting Monday –  11/18/19 6:30 pm at 138 George Street, Lambertville. We are discussing If These Stones Could Talk: African American Presence in The Hopewell Valley, Sourland Mountain, and Surrounding Regions of New Jersey, by Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills. 

Workshop Wednesday, 11/20/19 at 6:30 pm at the Lambertville Public Library.  “Dismantling the Racism Machine: Myths Taught to White People That Perpetuate White Supremacy” led by Karen Gaffney.

Based on Dr. Karen Gaffney’s book Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox, this workshop will consider the question: Why is it that white people have such powerful beliefs that make it so challenging for them to acknowledge the persistence of systemic racism and their participation in these systems? This workshop will identify 3 core myths that white people are taught that contribute to the perpetuation of white supremacy. These myths include the false beliefs that race is biological, that race, including whiteness, has always existed, and that systemic racism is no longer a serious problem. The workshop will share strategies for debunking these myths in order to develop an anti-racist perspective, and we will include time for discussion and action planning.

Dr. Karen Gaffney is Professor of English at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey. As a white anti-racist educator, she presents at national conferences, facilitates community workshops, and shares resources on her blog Divided No Longer (available at www.dividednolonger.com).  Her recent book, Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox (Routledge, 2018), is an accessible and interdisciplinary introduction to race and racism with tools for action. She currently serves as a Public Scholar for the NJ Council for the Humanities.

Book Drive for Books through Bars through December 31 We will be collecting books throughout November and December. Books can be dropped off in the box outside of the Lambertville Public Library, or email smdurkee@hotmail.com to arrange a pick-up.

Please read before donating:

• We accept books only in new, good condition, or lightly used. (Please do not donate a book to us that you would not gift to a loved one.)
• We do not accept hardcover books. Many prisons do not accept them and they are expensive to mail.
• Please review the topics we are in need of (listed below). Other than the topics listed below, we will accept books on a case-by-case basis.
• Please donate books in a box or bag that you do not need returned to you.
• Please do not donate out-of-date non-fiction books, old magazines, or books advocating racial animosity, sexism, homophobia or white supremacy

Books We Always Need:

• Books on our Thriftbooks Wishlist
• Soft cover dictionaries are our #1 request and we send them out as quickly as we can get them!
• Almanacs
• Christian/inspirational fiction
• Drawing and how-to art
• Fantasy (especially contemporary)
• Electrical wiring
• Erotica
• Exercise
• Graphic novels
• How-to auto & mechanic manuals
• Investing & financial literacy
• Islam
• Law dictionaries
• LGBTQ fiction
• Manga & Anime
• Medical & pharmaceutical dictionaries
• Occult/Wicca/Astrology/Horoscope/Tarot
• Paperback carpentry guides
• Paperback plumbing guides
• Puzzle books (unused)
• Real estate & house flipping
• Role-playing games
• Starting a business & small business management
• Sustainability, living off-grid & farming
• True crime
• Urban fiction
• Weightlifting & bodybuilding

https://docs.google.com/document/d/132B4ioBByC1f7iBymgauJSNBRzEotT-MyUKhWgSm_KY/edit?usp=sharing