Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/03/2020
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
Strand Bookstore
Categories No Categories
Prejudential is a concise, authoritative exploration of America’s relationship with race and black Americans through the lens of the presidents who are elected to represent and govern all of its people.
Throughout the history of the United States, numerous presidents have been remembered as slaveholders, bigots and inciters of racial violence, but were others generally regarded as more sympathetic to the plight and interests of black Americans—such as Lincoln, FDR and Clinton—really much better? And what of all the presidents whose interactions with and impacts on the lives of black America are hardly considered at all? Over the course of 45 chapters—one for each president—Kimberley examines the condition of black America through the attitudes and actions of the highest elected official in the country.
This is not meant to be a definitive examination of the topic but rather an informative and engaging guide that illustrates the merits and especially the shortcomings of even those presidents considered more progressive than their contemporaries on race issues. By casting sunlight on an aspect of American history that is largely overlooked, Prejudential aims to increase awareness in a manner that will facilitate discussion and understanding.
In the 3rd floor Rare Book Room Margaret Kimberley will be joined by Dr. Crystal Marie Fleming for a discussion on Prejudential.
Margaret Kimberley is a New York-based writer and activist for peace and justice issues. Dr. Cornel West has called her “one the few great truth tellers who, along with Glen Ford, Adolph Reed, Jr. and Bruce Dixon, preserved her integrity during the Obama years.” She has been a columnist for Black Agenda Report since its inception in 2006, and was for four years the weekly columnist for Black Commentator. Her work has appeared in the Dallas Morning News, the Chicago Defender, and on AlterNet, CounterPunch, and Buzzflash. Kimberley is a member of Stop the Merchants of Death (SMOD), a War Resisters League speakers’ bureau committed to informing the public about corporate connections to American military activity. She is also a member of Clergy and Laity Concerned About Iraq.