Reading While Black Book Club

J. Barnes
  • 5.0 (16)
  • Books

Reading While Black Book Club is a podcast where we dissect and discuss Black literature. Each month we select a book by us with us in mind giving our listeners access to the authors via interview where their questions get answered and they become part of the show. Friends, community leaders, and activists stop by as we amplify their work in marginalized communities. We promote reading as a self-help tool for better mental health and provide a safe space where individuals can tell their stories. As Black people, Black literature is not monolithic and all of it deserves celebration.

  1. 02/12/2021

    Happy Black History Month X Happy Black Futures Month X Happy 4 Year Anniversary

    Happy 4 Year Anniversary Today we discuss Black History Month, Black Futures Month and our new rollout for the book club going forward.  I also have some special guests coming on the show today. Thank you for rocking with us To celebrate, all RWB merch is 35% off when you use the promo code RWBFOUR (R-W-B-F-O-U-R) You can check out our shirts, hoodies, masks and tote bags HERE We're on Slack Be sure to join our Slack channel.  This online community will be a resource center for all our listeners and readers.  You will have access to the reading material and additional tools to help apply the books we're reading to everyday life. .  You can join HERE February Books Of The Month Feminism Is For Everybody by bell hooks Recovering from Emotionally Immature Parents: Practical Tools to Establish Boundaries and Reclaim Your Emotional Autonomy by Lindsay C. Gibson This is part of our Mental Health Mondays and is a continuation of Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents Every Mon at 6PM EST on Clubhouse.  Our next meeting is February 15th. Heavy by Kiese Laymon Every Mon, Wed, & Fri at 10AM EST on Clubhouse Our first meeting is February 15th.  Roy Wilkins: The Quiet Revolutionary and the NAACP: Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century by Yvonne Ryan Every Tue, Thu, & Sat at 10AM EST on Clubhouse.  Our first meeting is February 11th. The End of Policing by Alex Vitale Every Tue at 3PM EST on Clubhouse.  Our next meeting is February 16th. Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall Every Tue at 8PM EST on Clubhouse.  Our next meeting is February 16th. All About Love by bell hooks Every Mon, Wed & Thu 3PM EST on Clubhouse.  Our first meeting February 10th. My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem Every Thu 6PM EST on Clubhouse.  Our next meeting is February 11th.  All Boys Aren’t Blue by George Johnson Every Sat at 3PM.  Our next meeting is February 13th. George just released a dramatic reading of All Boys Aren’t Blue on YouTube. The Devil You Know by Charles M. Blow Every Sun at 3PM EST on Clubhouse.  Our next meeting is February 14th. How To Fight Racism by Jemar Tisby This is a continuation of Jemar’s The Color of Compromise: The Truth About The American Church’s Complicity In Racism Every Sun at 6PM EST on Clubhouse. Our next meeting is February 14th.  Check out our Linktree HERE

  2. 08/28/2020 ·  Bonus

    My 30th Birthday 🎉🎈🎁

    Hey readers,  It is my 30th birthday and I wanted to give you a special episode just for today with a new segment highlight my favorite Black Podcasts and huge announcement about a new miniseries coming to Reading While Black. I hope you enjoy  Remember “If you love what you hear, you can help with Listener Support. You can assist us to buy books for youth incarcerated at the Alabama DYS Mt. Meigs campus, L.B. Wallace as they transition from behind bars back into their community. ” There are three tiers $0.99 $4.99 $9.99 Remember to support your local bookstore. If you're looking for a bookstore 1977 Books here in Montgomery, AL You can become a Patreon like me and receive exclusive books each month. Also they carry all the books selected by Reading While Black Podcast. www.1977Books.com Facebook: @1977Books Instagram: @1977Books Twitter: @1977Books Remember to leave us a Voice Message so you can share your reading experience and be a part of the podcast. Remember to check out Reading While Black Merch  Use promo code “RWBFAM” for 35% off Remember to leave a review and five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Follow Us Facebook: @ReadingWhileBLK Facebook Group: Reading While Black Book Club Twitter: @ReadingWhileBLK Instagram: @ReadingWhileBLK www.readingwhileblackbookclub.com

  3. 05/01/2020

    Cognac & Celexa (Reading While Black Discusses I Don't Want To Die Poor with author Michael Arceneaux)

    Welcome back readers, I'm back with another episode of Reading While Black Podcast and today we have Michael Arceneaux here to discuss his second book, I Don't Want To Die Poor. This is not just a perfect book for right now at this moment as student loan debt is a national conversation during the 2020 Presidential Race but it was a perfect book 10 years ago. Michael tells his story and how debt doesn't just affect you financially but becomes burdens on your mental health and your dating life. It's not too late to pick up I Don't Want To Die Poor. Remember to support your local bookstores in your community. It's also time to announce our May Book of the Month. If you did not know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month and I thought it was appropriate to select a book that focused on solutions to dealing with trauma. It gives me great pleasure to announce our book of the month for May is My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts by Resmaa Menakem. The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. In this groundbreaking work, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of body-centered psychology. He argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn't just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police.  My Grandmother's Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.  Paves the way for a new, body-centered understanding of white supremacy—how it is literally in our blood and our nervous system.  Offers a step-by-step solution—a healing process—in addition to incisive social commentary.  Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LICSW, is a therapist with decades of experience currently in private practice in Minneapolis, MN, specializing in trauma, body-centered psychotherapy, and violence prevention. He has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr. Phil as an expert on conflict and violence. Menakem has studied with bestselling authors Dr. David Schnarch (Passionate Marriage) and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score). He also trained at Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute. If you live in the Montgomery, AL area, you can pick it up at your local abolition bookstore 1977 Books. In light of COVID-19, 1977 Books have gone digital so check them out on their website. www.1977Books.com Facebook: @1977Books Instagram: @1977Books Twitter: @1977Books Remember to leave us a Voice Message so you can share your reading experience and be a part of the podcast. Remember to check out Reading While Black Merch  Use promo code “RWBFAM” for 35% off Remember to leave a review and five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Follow Us Facebook: @ReadingWhileBLK Facebook Group: Reading While Black Book Club Twitter: @ReadingWhileBLK Instagram: @ReadingWhileBLK www.readingwhileblackbookclub.com

  4. 04/03/2020

    One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy with Dr. Carol Anderson

    Welcome Back Readers,  I'm back with another episode of Reading While Black Podcast and today we have Dr. Carol Anderson here to discuss her book One Person, No Vote. This is not only a history lesson in Voter Suppression but the keys to what it takes to defeat it. In this conversation you will hear Dr. Anderson and I cover a wide range of topics from the history of voter suppression, the continued effort by states to suppress the vote for terrible result and what the resistance is doing to stop it. This is maybe one of the most important reads you'll ever embark on. You will never say "Black people don't show up to the ballot" once you understand why that's happening.  March is Women's History and 2020 is an election year, choosing our next book was a no brainer. Our March Book of the Month is One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson.  In her New York Times bestseller White Rage, Carol Anderson laid bare an insidious history of policies that have systematically impeded black progress in America, from 1865 to our combustible present. With One Person, No Vote, she chronicles a related history: the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision effectively allowed districts with a demonstrated history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice. Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans as the nation gears up for the 2018 midterm elections.  Also it's the perfect time to announce our April Book of the Month,  I Don’t Want To Die Poor by Michael Arceneaux. You can pre-order now!!! The book releases April 7, 2020.  From the New York Times bestselling author of I Can’t Date Jesus, which Vogue called “a piece of personal and cultural storytelling that is as fun as it is illuminating,” comes a wry and insightful essay collection that explores the financial and emotional cost of chasing your dreams.  If you live in the Montgomery, AL area, you can pick it up at your local abolition bookstore 1977 Books.  In light of COVID-19, 1977 Books has gone digital so check them out on their website here 1977 Books is located at 39 Dexter Ave Suite #209, Montgomery, AL 36104.  Facebook: @1977Books  Instagram: @1977Books  Twitter: @1977Books  Remember to leave us a Voice Message so you can share your reading experience and be a part of the podcast.   Remember to check out Reading While Black Merch  Use promo code “RWBFAM” for 35% off   Remember to leave a review and five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Follow Us  Facebook: @ReadingWhileBLK Facebook Group: Reading While Black Book Club Twitter: @ReadingWhileBLK  Instagram: @ReadingWhileBLK  www.readingwhileblackbookclub.com

  5. 03/07/2020

    Reading While Black Teams Up With NAACP to Visit Selma, Alabama for the 55th Anniversary Bridge Crossing Jubilee

    In this episode, I teamed up with NAACP Youth & College Division to visit Selma, Alabama for 55th anniversary of the Selma Jubilee. Selma and the Alabama Black Belt were the battlegrounds for the Voting Rights Movement that resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Alabamians stood up and peacefully fought for the right to vote.  SNCC, SCLC, national churches and religious organizations, civil rights and labor organizations, and stars of the Movement supported the Alabama Voting Rights Movement. We  commemorate and thank them for their work, leadership and sacrifice.  Several presidential candidates were in attendance including former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Billionaire Tom Steyer. We had a chance to talk with NAACP Youth & College members from several universities speaking on many of their first experience cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. I also had a chance to chat with President and CEO of the NAACP Derrick Johnson and newly elected Mayor of Talladega and youngest Mayor in the state of Alabama, Timothy Ragland. March is Women's History and 2020 is an election year, choosing our next book was a no brainer. Our March Book of the Month is One Person, No Vote by Carol Anderson.  In her New York Times bestseller White Rage, Carol Anderson laid bare an insidious history of policies that have systematically impeded black progress in America, from 1865 to our combustible present. With One Person, No Vote, she chronicles a related history: the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision effectively allowed districts with a demonstrated history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice. Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans as the nation gears up for the 2018 midterm elections. If you live in the Montgomery, AL area, you can pick it up at your local abolition bookstore 1977 Books.  1977 Books is located at 39 Dexter Ave Suite #209, Montgomery, AL 36104. Facebook: 1977 Books Instagram: @1977Books Twitter: @1977Books Remember to leave us a Voice Message so you can share your reading experience and be a part of the podcast.  Remember to check out Reading While Black Merch  Use promo code “RWBFAM” for 35% off  Remember to leave a review and 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Follow Us: Twitter: @ReadingWhileBLK Instagram: @ReadingWhileBLK www.readingwhileblackbookclub.com

  6. 12/13/2019

    @ReadingWhileBlk welcomes back Kia Smith to discuss The Black Art of Escape by Casey Gerald

    Today on the pod, we have a now 3 time returning quest Kia Smith (@KiaSpeaks) to discuss Casey Gerald’s The Black Art of Escape and how it connects to the recently released film Queen & Slim. Apologies for the audio quality difficulties.  This is a review of the film so if you haven’t seen it yet, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!  Facebook: Kia Speaks  Twitter: @KiaSpeaks Instagram: @KiaSpeaks  Remember to pick up @CaseyGerald’s There Will Be No Miracles Here for the December book of the month. Support your local bookstore. Before you start Casey’s book, I think it’s important to get to know the author so here are few things to check out:  The Black Art of Escape  The Gospel of Doubt Embrace your raw, strange music If you live in the Montgomery, AL area, you can pick it up at 1977 Books.   1977 Books is located at 39 Dexter Ave Suite #209, Montgomery, AL 36104.  Facebook: 1977 Books  Instagram: @1977Books  Twitter: @1977Books  Remember to check out the Reading While Black Merch  Use promo code “RWBXMAS” for 35% off  Remember to leave a review and 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Remember to leave a Voice Message 📞📲  We had our first Voice Message on this episode and hoping for many many more!!!  Follow Us:  Facebook: Reading While Black Book Club  Twitter: @ReadingWhileBLK  Instagram: @ReadingWhileBLK  www.readingwhileblackbookclub.com

  7. 11/13/2019

    @ReadingWhileBLK sits down with Michigan House of Representative District 11 Jewell Jones

    Hello readers, we’re back again this week. We’re in full swing of our Different Day = Different Conversation special and today we have the Michigan’s youngest State House Representative from District 11, Jewell Jones. State Rep Jones is serving his second term representing the 11th House District, which comprises all of Garden City and Inkster, and portions of Dearborn Heights, Livonia and Westland. Jones previously served on the Communications and Technology, Regulatory Reform, and Military and Veterans Affairs Committees. Before serving in the Michigan House of Representatives, Jones was a member of the Inkster City Council. He was also a member of the Inkster Task Force, the Inkster Youth Coalition, the Inkster Chamber of Commerce and more. Jones attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he is pursuing a dual major in Political Science and Business Studies. He is also a member of the National Guard, Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, the Black Student Union and the Student Veteran Association. Jones is a native and current resident of Inkster. He has been active in political campaigns for several years and also operated a small business. In the House, he is focused on improving public education, keeping young talent in Michigan and maintaining strong, vibrant communities.  Instagram: @JewellJonesMI  Twitter: @JewellJonesMI  Remember to pick up @CaseyGerald’s There Will Be No Miracles Here for the December book of the month and support your local bookstore.  Before you start Casey’s book, I think it’s important to get to know the author so here are few things to check out:  The Black Art of Escape http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/08/the-black-art-of-escape.html  The Gospel of Doubt - https://youtu.be/NI915VTjCHE  Embrace your raw, strange music - https://youtu.be/DsrxbqFo41k  Remember to check out the Reading While Black Merch Use promo code “RWBXMAS” for 35% off  https://teespring.com/stores/reading-while-black-book-club?aid=marketplace  Remember to leave a review and 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Follow Us: Twitter: @ReadingWhileBLK  Instagram: @ReadingWhileBLK  www.readingwhileblackbookclub.com

  8. 11/12/2019

    @ReadingWhileBLK Sits With @MayaRupert, Campaign Manager for @JulianCastro

    Hello readers, we’re back again this week. We’re in full swing of our Different Day = Different Conversation special and today we have the only Black Woman serving as Campaign Manager for the current 2020 presidential cycle, Maya Rupert.  Maya Rupert is the campaign manager for Julián Castro's (D) 2020 presidential campaign. She served as executive director of Castro's political action committee, Opportunity First, and worked as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) while Castro was secretary of the department. Rupert also worked as a policy director for the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)  Twitter: @MayaRupert  Twitter: @JulianCastro  Remember to pick up Casey Gerald’s There Will Be No Miracles Here for the December book of the month and support your local bookstore.  Before you start Casey’s book, I think it’s important to get to know the author so here are few things to check out:  The Black Art of Escape - http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/08/the-black-art-of-escape.html  The Gospel of Doubt - https://youtu.be/NI915VTjCHE  Embrace your raw, strange music - https://youtu.be/DsrxbqFo41k  Remember to check out the Reading While Black Merch  Use promo code “RWBXMAS” for 35% off https://teespring.com/stores/reading-while-black-book-club?aid=marketplace  Remember to leave a review and 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Follow Us:  Twitter: @ReadingWhileBLK  Instagram: @ReadingWhileBLK  www.readingwhileblackbookclub.com

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Reading While Black Book Club is a podcast where we dissect and discuss Black literature. Each month we select a book by us with us in mind giving our listeners access to the authors via interview where their questions get answered and they become part of the show. Friends, community leaders, and activists stop by as we amplify their work in marginalized communities. We promote reading as a self-help tool for better mental health and provide a safe space where individuals can tell their stories. As Black people, Black literature is not monolithic and all of it deserves celebration.

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