Black Folk: Community Read & Conversation Series

Join us for our annual Community History Book Club - a community conversation and workshop series. This year, we are reading Black Folk: the Roots of the Black Working Class by Dr. Blair LM Kelley. Alongside Dr. Kelley, we will focus our conversations on the history of labor, centering the experiences of local Black laborers and labor organizers. Our goal is to listen and learn together about how we can learn from the past and from our fellow community members to create a better future. 

Over the course of four weeks, we will bring together community members, scholars, educators, artists, and policymakers to listen and learn from each other. 

Session dates & themes: 

• Thursday, February 26 – Black Labor Histories: Local Lineages of Struggle
• Thursday, March 5 - Black Folk with Dr. Blair Kelley. Dr. Kelley will join us in conversation during this session. 
• Thursday, March 12 - Resistance, Mutual Aid & Collective Power
• Thursday, March 19 - Imagining the Future of Black Labor in Chapel Hill

All sessions will be held at Chapel Hill Public Library in Meeting Room B. Events will start at 6 pm, with doors opening at 5:30. 

This series is organized by Danita Mason-Hogans and Dr. Simona Goldin in partnership with Chapel Hill Community History and Bridging the Gap. 

Get the book: We will have a limited number of free copies of the book available at Chapel Hill Public Library beginning in early February. If you are able, please purchase your own copy from our partners at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. Mention "Community Read" in your order comments, and they will give you a 10% discount on your order! Buy One, Give One: even better, if you can, buy two copies of the book: one for yourself and one to donate for a fellow community member.