WITS Study Hall BOOKS 2020-2021 School Year
WITS Study Hall is a collaborative learning space for adult learners to actively participate in anti-racist conversation and enjoy the works of writers of color. We focus not just on anti-racist discourse, but celebrating the range of genres and stories by BIPOC authors.
WITS Study Hall explores one book every two months and is open to all readers. You can sign up to join our virtual meetings, or use this framework to start your own book club. We’ll provide the book selection, discussion questions, and supplemental resources. Whatever your engagement, we hope you join us in this important reading.
So You Want to Talk About Race
"In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities" in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life." - ijeomaoluo.com/books
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - So You Want to Talk About Race
Keep in mind the following discussion questions to get you thinking as you read:
The chapter about privilege is placed right before the chapter on intersectionality. The author has stated in interviews that she placed those chapters in that order because it is impossible to fully understand intersectionality without first comprehending privilege. How do the concepts discussed in the chapter "Why am I always being told to check my privilege?" help deepen your understanding of intersectionality and help implement intersectionality into your life?
Throughout the book, the author makes it clear that this book is written for both white people and people of color. But does the author expect white people and people of color to read and experience this book in the same way? What are some of the ways in which the author indicates how she expects white people and people of color to react to and interact with portions of the book? What are some of the ways
in which the author discusses the different roles that white people and people of color will play in fighting systemic racism in our society?
What we know as the police system today has a long history of racism within it. The system of police as we know it now derives from "slave patrols", which were groups of individuals tasked to bring back enslaved people when they had ran away. When reading the Chapter "Is Police Brutality Really about Race?", what were some thoughts that came to mind?
Knowing that race does play a factor in policing, what does that say about all the murders that happened in 2020?
The final chapter, "Talking is great, but what else can I do?," discusses some actions you can take to battle systemic racism using the knowledge you've gained from this book and from your conversations on race. What are some actions you can take in your community, your schools, your workplace, and your local government? What are some local antiracism efforts in your community that you can join or support?
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - SO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT RACE
These additional resources will help integrate learning from our book of the month with current events, art, media, and politics. They may be referenced during WITS Study Hall meetings, so check them out!
Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
INFINITE COUNTRY
On April 15th we will read and discuss Infinite Country by award-winning, internationally acclaimed author, Patricia Engel.
"At the dawn of the new millennium, Colombia is a country devastated by half a century of violence. Only teenagers, Elena and Mauro fall in love against a backdrop of paramilitary and guerilla warfare. A few years later, brutalities continue to ravage their homeland, but the couple now has a young daughter to protect. Their economic prospects grim, they bargain on the American Dream and travel to Houston to send wages back to Elena’s mother, all the while weighing whether to risk overstaying their visas or to return to Bogotá. The decision to ignore their exit dates plunges the expanding family into the precariousness of undocumented status, the threat of discovery menacing a life already strained with struggle. When deportation forces Mauro back to Colombia, Elena sends infant Talia on a plane back to her daughter’s grandmother, splintering the family into two worlds with no certain hope of reunion. Encompassing continents and generations, Infinite Country knits together the accounts of five family members as they struggle to keep themselves whole in the face of the hostile landscapes and forces that threaten to drive them apart." - goodreads
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - INFINITE COUNTRY
Keep in mind the following discussion questions to get you thinking as you read:
One
Two
Three
Four
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - INFINITE COUNTRY
These additional resources will help integrate learning from our book of the month with current events, art, media, and politics. They may be referenced during WITS Study Hall meetings, so check them out!
THE BLACK FLAMINGO
On February 18th, for our second public meeting, we will read and discuss The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, a British poet of Greek Cypriot and Caribbean descent.
"A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen - then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers - to show ourselves to the world in bold colour." - goodreads
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - THE BLACK FLAMINGO
Keep in mind the following discussion questions to get you thinking as you read:
One
Michael has different names at different points in his life—some he is given, some he chooses for himself.
How do the different names relate to Michael and his relationships?
Two
When Daisy asks Michael to protect her from the lesbians (pg. 176) at the club, Michael angrily calls out
her homophobia; yet he is far less decisive about calling out her racism. What do you make of this
difference in response?
Three
When Michael cuts his locks (pg. 268), he says “I’m shedding / something other / people use to define / me,
falling to my feet.” How do people in the book use Michael’s locks to define him?
Four
Performance is a major theme in Michael’s story. What different kinds of performance are happening and
how do they impact Michael’s life?
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - THE BLACK FLAMINGO
These additional resources will help integrate learning from our book of the month with current events, art, media, and politics. They may be referenced during WITS Study Hall meetings, so check them out!
HOMEGOING
On December 17th 2020, for our first public meeting, we read and discussed Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, a Ghanaian-American novelist.
Homegoing traces the descendants of half- sisters, Effia and Esi, across continents and centuries. Its power lies in showing, on a very individual scale, the effects slavery had on millions of lives. As the New York Times said, “The book leaves the reader with a visceral understanding of both the savage realities of slavery and the emotional damage that is handed down over the centuries.”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - HOMEGOING
Keep in mind the following discussion questions to get you thinking as you read:
One
Two
Three
Four
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - HOMEGOING
These additional resources will help integrate learning from our book of the month with current events, art, media, and politics. They may be referenced during WITS Study Hall meetings, so check them out!SOCIAL MEDIA
Tag @witschicago and use #WITStudyHall to let us know you’re reading along with us!
