During Winter 2021, UO Common Reading will focus on the "Learn" portion of the theme for the year: Listen. Learn. Act. As part of the program, the UO community has been invited to read Assistant Vice Provost Kimberly Johnson's new book, This is My America.
According to the publisher, Kimberly Johnson's debut novel explores racial injustice against innocent Black men who are criminally sentenced and the families left behind to pick up the pieces. Publisher's description: "Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time–her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present?"
Public Events with author Kimberly Johnson:
Sunday, February 7, 2:00-3:00 PM – Coffee and Conversation: Featuring Kimberly Johnson
Facilitator: Matthias Vogel, GSH Faculty in Residence. All are welcome for this casual conversation.
Meeting ID: 910 4382 4028 Passcode: 947635Please continue to check the UO Common Reading events page for additional events, https://fyp.uoregon.edu/common-reading-events.
Tuesday, February 9, 5:30-7:00PM -- UO African American Workshop & Lecture Series
Johnson will discuss the inspirations of her timely best selling novel, This Is My America, delving into the themes f how racial injustice in our criminal justice system leads to mass incarceration and excessive punishment.
Register: https://inclusion.uoregon.edu/2020-2021-african-american-workshop-and-lecture-series
Wednesday, February 10, 6:00-7:30 PM – Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award Ceremony
This is My America has been selected as one of 2021's best books in the Paciific Northwest! Join the awards party in celebration with Kimberly Johnson. Info: http://www.pnba.org/2021-ba.html
Support Teaching, Learning, & Research with the Book:
TEP Winter Common Reading Discussion Group: This is My America
Fridays, January 29 and February 5, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.Zoom: https://uoregon.zoom.us/j/98861111634
Kirkus Review writes that Johnson’s acclaimed young-adult novel “showcases one family’s persistent and courageous fight for freedom against a broken criminal justice system.... Harrowing and worthwhile [the novel is a] call-to-action from the anti-racist insights of a generation of Black activists.” This reading group will meet twice: once to reflect on and discuss Johnson’s book, once to discuss how the book can impact our course design. All interested are welcome, including those who have already discussed the book in other groups!
UO Common Reading page about This is My America, https://fyp.uoregon.edu/my-americaLearn more about Kimberly Johnson, find discussion prompts, and other resources.UO Libraries Research guide, https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/commonreading/2020-2021A guide to resources to help explore themes of the US Justice System & Mass Incarceration, Early & Modern Policing, Black Creativity, Journalism & the Black Press, among others.
UO Combatting Racism page https://around.uoregon.edu/listen-learn-act
Find UO specific anti-racism resources and stories - a small sampling of the many on campus—for ways to listen, learn, and act.