11.04.24 6-7:30PM

Location: Napa Bookmine

Our first author event! Umi Vaughan will be reading from his new book. Silencing the Drum explores the role of sacred music in Afro-Brazilian religious traditions and provides detailed accounts of religious intolerance, particularly in relation to the drum. The book argues that unless Afro-Brazilian sacred music is protected from a rising wave of attacks, the effects on these important practices could be devastating.

12.09.24 6-7:30

Location: Napa Bookmine

We are reading An American Genocide to understand why so few California Indigenous are visible in daily life. Benjamin Madley's book lays bare the brutal truth of California's history since its formation as a state. Once a vibrant and diverse network of nations, the Indigenous people were systematically eradicated not just by disease but by genocidal policy and intent. This book along with Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange will be discussed as background for two Mishewal Wappo presentations at Napa County LIbrary on January 13 and March 10.

TBD!!

Location: Napa Bookmine

We are reading either or both Tommy Orange's There There and Wandering Stars and discussing California Indigenous present and future. The time and date of this discussion is being updated. Stay tuned!

10.07.24 6:00-7:30PM

Location: Napa Bookmine

One month before the historic 2024 presidential election, we begin with an examination of the inequities in our voting system. In One Person, No Vote, Carol Anderson chronicles 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.

01.08.24 6:00-7:30PM

Join us for the first Teach Truth book club! This evening, Dale Allender, PhD, will lead our discussion.

The fossil record confirms that humanity originated in Africa. Yet somehow we have overlooked that Africa is also at the root of all that makes us human--our spirituality, civilization, arts, sciences, philosophy, and our conscious and unconscious minds.

02.05.24 6-7:30PM

What came before 1619? What followed? Whether you read the original article, the book, heard the podcast, saw the documentary or just know about the controversy, you are welcome to this discussion about Nikole Hannah-Jones’ important work.

Dale Allender, PhD will again lead the group discussion.

03.04.24 6:00-7:30PM

A powerful and impassioned historical account of the largest successful revolt by enslaved people in history: the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1803. Our discussion will be led by Afro-Caribbean scholar, Dr. Patricia van Leeuwaarde-Moonsammy. Dr. van Leeuwaarde Moonsammy is a socio-cultural anthropologist with expertise in race, ethnicity and diaspora studies; decolonization; performance studies and expressive culture; and media.

05.06.24 6-7:30

James (JT) Thompson, founder of the Napa Valley Black History Month Celebration, First Five Network Member and Psychologist, will be leading a discussion on “Unbroken Brain” and how we treat addiction in our communities. Combining Maia Szalavitz’s personal story with a distillation of more than 25 years of science and research, Unbroken Brain provides a paradigm-shifting approach to thinking about addiction.

06.03.24 6-7:30

Dr. Kim Hester Wlliams, professor of Literature and American Studies at Sonoma State University will lead the discussion of Octavia Butler’s prescient and timely novel, Parable of the Sower. Dr. Hester Williams is co-editor of a collection of interdisciplinary essays on race and environment, Racial Ecologies (2018). She has also published essays on the representation of race, gender and economy in new media, popular culture, and film. Her current scholarship considers race, ecology, and Afro-eco-poetics with particular attention to the work of science fiction writer Octavia Butler.