WITS Study Hall BOOKS 2021-2022 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.
salt by nayyirah waheed
SALT
A poetry book by a Black female author, both speaking to our current times and future solutions. I am deeply moved by it whenever I pick it up. —Cassandra Pintro, Vogue
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - salt
One
What was your favorite poem and why?
Two
The author keeps her life a secret. There are no images of her to be found. Why do you think that is?
Three
How do these poems reframe your ideas around immigrants?
Four
What do you think the author was saying about colonization and traveling?
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - SALT
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.
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
On April 12th we will discuss Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah. The New York Times named this book one of the best books of 2019, as did USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Esquire, Newsday, and Booklist.
In the end, Born a Crime is not just an unnerving account of growing up in South Africa under apartheid, but a love letter to the author’s remarkable mother, who grew up in a hut with 14 cousins, and determined that her son would not grow up paying what she called “the black tax” — black families having to “spend all of their time trying to fix the problems of the past,” using their skills and education to bring their relatives “back up to zero,” because “the generations who came before you have been pillaged.” - New York Times
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Keep in mind the following discussion questions to get you thinking as you read:
One
The title of his memoir is Born a Crime. What is the meaning of “born a crime”? How would it feel for your very existence to be considered a crime? How does this concept impact Trevor’s life?
Two
When Trevor finished high school, he ended up working “in the hood” for a few years, instead of pursuing his education. When he looks back on why he stayed, he says, “The hood was strangely comforting, but comfort can be dangerous. Comfort provides a floor but also a ceiling” (p. 212). What does he mean? How do people get stuck doing something comfortable? What do people need to be propelled forward?
Three
Trevor speaks multiple languages. He says he “learned that the quickest way to bridge the race gap was through language.” Trevor says he understood “that language, even more than color, defines who you are to people” (pp. 53–54). What does he mean, and how is this idea reflected in this encounter? Do you use language differently in different situations? At school? At home? With friends?
Four
Think about the meaning of the word oppression. Trevor says: “People love to say, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ What they don’t say is, ‘And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod’” (p. 182). Consider Trevor’s addition to the old adage. What is he trying to say about helping others?
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - BORN A CRIME: STORIES FROM A SOUTH AFRICAN CHILDHOOD
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.
Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So
Afterparties: stories
On February 17th we will discuss New York Times bestseller, Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So.
"Afterparties is a deeply personal, frankly funny, illuminating portrait of furtive, meddling aunties, sweaty, bored adolescents and the plaintive search for survival that connects them. Its nine stories sketch a world of hidden histories, of longings past and present, and of a culture carving its way out of historical trauma. It is a testament to the burgeoning talent of So, who died of a drug overdose in December, just 10 months after selling “Afterparties” and an unfinished novel. The collection lives on as an ode to the Stockton of So’s youth, to the greasy doughnut stores and boisterous auto shops where pointed questions about identity, tragedy and belonging come to life." - New York Times
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - AFTERPARTIES: STORIES
One
Do these stories offer a different or new perspective on the immigrant experience? What stuck out to you?
Two
Do you think So’s use of dry-wit humor to tackle some really tough topics make these stories more accessible and therefore more impactful?
Three
What did you think about So’s take on the generational divide among the Cambodian-American community in central California?
Four
Anthony Veasna So died tragically nine months before his book hit bookshelves. Did this impact how you read and thought about his complex characters?
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - AFTERPARTIES: STORIES
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!
MEXICAN GOTHIC
On December 13th we will discuss New York Times bestseller, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
"Something sinister is brewing beneath an isolated mansion in the Mexican countryside, and an ancient evil is about to be exposed. With callbacks to classics like Rebecca, Jane Eyre and The Haunting of Hill House, Moreno-Garcia proves that she is just as consumed by stories of haunted houses as we are in this new gothic horror with a twist." - Barnes and Noble
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - MEXICAN GOTHIC
Keep in mind the following discussion questions to get you thinking as you read:
One
How would you describe Noemi Taboada, the heroine of Mexican Gothic? As the novel progresses, in what ways does Noemi defy expectations of her image as a privileged socialite with which the story opens?
Two
If you're a gothic fiction fan (think Daphne du Maurier, Emily Bronte, or Mary Shelley), pick out some of the gothic elements that author Moreno-Garcia incorporates into her story. At what point, however, does gothic evolve into horror?
Three
What is the source of the Doyle family's power? How does it intersect with colonialism and racism?
Four
Talk about the family's mysterious symbol: a circular snake swallowing its own tail, known as an ouroboros. Akin to a coat-of-arms, what does this signify for the family—along with the motto, "One is All." Also, what are the ways the ouroboros functions metaphorically within the framework of the novel itself?
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - MEXICAN GOTHIC
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 Night Watchman
On October 13th we will discuss Pulitzer Prize Winner, The Night Watchman, written by Louise Erdrich.
"Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman." - Harper Collins Publishing
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - The Night Watchman
Keep in mind the following discussion questions to get you thinking as you read:
One
What does Thomas’ father, Biboon, know that most others do not? What might he mean when he says, "Survival is a changing game"?
Two
Patrice likens her meticulous work at the jewel plant to beading with her mother. In what ways is this similar or not? What’s the difference between work and a job?
Three
What is shame? Why is it likened to "a black sediment...carried around in [the] stomach"? What are the causes of shame for Thomas and others? What is the best way to combat it?
Four
Consider the many stereotyped images of “a lovely Indian maiden in flowing buckskin” and others in advertising. What is the power and effect of such images? What role do they play in culture?
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES - THE NIGHT WATCHMAN
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!
