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Join our History Book Club, where we’ll read books that educate, inspire pride in how Black Americans have contributed in great measure to our country, and motivate us to take action. In keeping with our mission, we want the History Book Club to be an active experience. We want our readers to connect with history and identify ways they can apply the history learned to combat racism and promote unity—and then do it.
NEW FOR 2024: Since most of the books we read are more than 250 pages, members voted to spend two months reading one book. So, each month we will discuss half of that month’s book.
The History Book Club meets at 7 PM CT on the last Wednesday of each month via Zoom. Click here to sign up for the mailing list to be notified of meetings and get a PDF of the History Book Club Calendar with Book Descriptions!
2024 History Book Club Calendar
Check out the calendar below and scroll down for book summaries and meeting dates.
The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.We’ll kick off the year with a compare and contrast of Malcolm Z and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.–and see how they weren’t as different as the media made them out to be. This will also prepare us for the National Geographic’s “Genius: MLK/X” eight-episode series, which starts 2/1/24. Check out “Martin Luther King and Malcolm X only met once. Here’s the story behind an iconic image,” on NationalGeographic.com, written by our founder, Rachelle Chase! Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
28
February2024
The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.We’ll finish the second half of this book for our February meeting. Since the author, Peniel E. Joseph, was a consultant on National Geographic’s “Genius: MLK/X” eight-episode series, and the series ends in February, we’ll discuss the series, too. Check out “Martin Luther King and Malcolm X only met once. Here’s the story behind an iconic image,” on NationalGeographic.com, written by our founder, Rachelle Chase! Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
27
March2024
Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for FreedomThis month’s book is a great segue from our January-February book, where we learned about Black nationalism and Malcolm X. In Set the World on Fire, we’ll learn about numerous Black women who moved Black nationalism forward. It’s also a great book to read to ring in Women’s History Month. Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
24
April2024
Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for FreedomApril is International Black Women’s History Month and what better way to celebrate it than to continue learning about Black women in the U.S. and abroad who instilled Black nationalism and fought for freedom. Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
29
May2024
The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century“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.” Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
26
June2024
The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First CenturyWe’ll finish reading The Third Reconstruction, where 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.” Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
31
July2024
The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure TuberculosisIn 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. Learn about these amazing women who, for 20 years, helped desegregate New York City’s hospitals and cure tuberculosis. Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
28
August2024
The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure TuberculosisWe’ll finish reading about Black nurses from the South were recruited to work in hospitals in New York City in 1929. 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. Learn about these amazing women who, for 20 years, helped desegregate New York City’s hospitals and cure tuberculosis. Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
25
September2024
The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of RooseveltAs we near Election Day, we’ll turn our attention to politics and learn about The Black Cabinet. “In 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidency with the help of key African American defectors from the Republican Party. At the time, most African Americans lived in poverty, denied citizenship rights and terrorized by white violence. As the New Deal began, a “black Brain Trust” joined the administration and began documenting and addressing the economic hardship and systemic inequalities African Americans faced. They became known as the Black Cabinet, but the environment they faced was reluctant, often hostile, to change.” Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
30
October2024
The Black Cabinet: The Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of RooseveltAs we near Election Day, we’ll continue focusing on politics as we wrap up on The Black Cabinet. “In 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidency with the help of key African American defectors from the Republican Party. At the time, most African Americans lived in poverty, denied citizenship rights and terrorized by white violence. As the New Deal began, a “black Brain Trust” joined the administration and began documenting and addressing the economic hardship and systemic inequalities African Americans faced. They became known as the Black Cabinet, but the environment they faced was reluctant, often hostile, to change.” Click here for book details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
27
November2024
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and BodiesWe’ll end the year by reading therapist Resmaa Menakem’s book that “examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of body-centered psychology.” We’ll learn how racism traumatizes Black, white, and blue (police) Americans, then leave the year with “an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.” An autographed copy can be purchased on the author’s website. For those (if any) who want to continue the work in 2025, we can form a subgroup and purchase the workbook. Click here for book (and workbook) details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
18
December2024
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and BodiesNOTE: The last Wednesday in December is Christmas, so we’ll wrap up My Grandmother’s Hands the Wednesday before Christmas on 12/18/24. We’ll not only discuss the book, but “what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.” For those (if any) who want to continue the work in 2025, we can form a subgroup and purchase the workbook. Click here for book (and workbook) details.
7:00 PM CTZoom
The History Book Club meets at 7 PM CT on the last Wednesday of each month via Zoom. Click here to sign up for the mailing list to be notified of meetings and get a PDF of the History Book Club Calendar!
