NYACP Racial Equity Media Club Meeting

Between the World and Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024
12:00pm - 1:00pm
~ PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE TO FRIDAY FOR THIS MONTH ~

Hailed by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States” (The New York Observer).  

In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER | NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER | PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST | NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST | NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Washington Post • People • Entertainment Weekly • Vogue • Los Angeles Times • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • New York • Newsday • Library Journal • Publishers Weekly

Bring your lunch and let's talk about this book together. 

Moderated by Melissa Goodstein and Catherine Canade

RSVP for 3/22/2024

For some time, the NYACP has been engaged in ongoing conversations about how to support anti-racist work and broaden knowledge and representation within our membership. In September 2023, we launched the Racial Equity Committee to facilitate different avenues to increase awareness on issues surrounding racial equity and justice. 

Aside from providing ongoing training programs and discussions for the NYACP membership, the Racial Equity Media Club was created. Every other month there will be a video or book that Club members will view or read a specific selection and then discuss as a group at a Club meeting. Eblasts will go out for each meeting and registration to each meeting will be required. Registration links are below.

The meetings will be virtual on the 3rd Thursday every other month. In June 2024, there will be an in person social event to gather and enjoy each other's company.

There are also suggestions on the website HERE to read, view, and listen to regarding racial equity for your own personal reference.

If you would like more information about the Racial Equity Committee, please contact the NYACP Office.

Both the NYACP Media Club and the media resource list below are intended to encourage engagement with materials and subjects that may be normally overlooked, and to engage our members to be open to different perspectives and experiences.

Log in information will be sent to you in a confirmation email. 

These meetings are for NYACP Members Only.  

Register for these upcoming meetings:

RSVP March 22, 2024

RSVP May 16, 2024