Whatcom READS Stories of the Civil Rights Movement

Whatcom READS hosts free community events that reflect themes found in each year’s selected title. This year’s community one-read selection is “Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan. To explore the theme of race and belonging and to honor the voices of Black writers, Whatcom READS welcomes award-winning Seattle storyteller Kathya Alexander. Through stories based on her own experience growing up in the segregated south, Alexander makes this time in history come alive. Join her for an evening of stories that explores the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of Mandy, a 12-year-old “colored” girl. Made possible through a Lift Every Voice Grant.

Lift Every Voice is a year-long, nationwide celebration of the 250-year tradition of African American poetry. With signature events in New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Kansas City; readings, performances, and moderated conversations at public libraries around the country; and a revelatory new anthology edited by Kevin Young, Lift Every Voice aims to highlight the richness and diversity of African American poetic imagination and its central place in American poetry.
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Lift Every Voice is directed by Library of America in partnership with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and with libraries, arts organizations, and bookstores in all 50 states. It is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Emerson Collective. For more information, including a downloadable discussion guide, visit africanamericanpoetry.org.