[Hac-announce] August Book Discussion

[Dan Blinn]

Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years
of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we
reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.

The Book Group will next meet on Saturday, August 23, at USNH at 2:00 pm.
 We will be discussing "The Case for Reparations", an essay by Ta-Nehisi
Coates that appeared in the June edition of The Atlantic.  The essay has
attracted significant attention, and many feel that it may be a major step
towards addressing centuries of injustice.  The essay can be read in its
entirety here
<http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/>
.

Additionally, everyone is encouraged to read one of the assigned or
recommended books  for next session's Humanist Institute, which will
address Contemporary Issues.  Those reading one of the books will be
invited to make a brief presentation of that book.  At the conclusion of
the August session, we will select one of these books for September.  The
books are as follows:


Topic A) Postmodernism, Ethics in Discourse and Leadership

Assigned book:  *Christopher Butler, Postmodernism: A Very Short
Introduction* (2012) Kindle $6.16



Topic B) Civil Liberties and Religious Freedom

Assigned book:  *Rob Boston, Taking Liberties:  Why Religious Freedom
Doesn't Give You the Right to Tell Other People What to Do* (2014) Kindle
$8.69

Recommended books:

Barry W. Lynn, Piety and Politics: The Right Wing Assault on Religious
Freedom

Herb Silverman, Candidate Without a Prayer

Toni Morrison, Paradise

Jamin Raskin, Overruling Democracy



Topic C) Philosophies of Government, Democracy

Assigned book:  *Jeffrey Stout, Democracy and Tradition *(2009)  Kindle
$19.25



Topic D)  War and Peace, The Problem of Non-Violence

Assigned book:  *Mark Kurlansky, Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History
of a Dangerous Idea* (2006) - book only $8.99
Recommended book:
Marshall Rosenberg, Speak Peace in a World of Conflict:  What You Say Next
Could Change Your World

Topic E) Cultures of Privilege and Oppression: Feminism
Assigned book:  *Bell Hooks, Feminism is for Everbody: Passionate
Politics *(2000)
- book only $14.40
Recommended book:
Bell Hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center
Recommended Play:  Good People

Topic F) Cultures of Privilege and Oppression:  Racism
Assigned book:  *Ian Haney Lopez, Dog Whistle Politics:  How Coded Racial
Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class* (2014) Kindle
$17.60
Recommended books:
Bruce Wright, Black Robes, White Justice
Richard Blanco, Looking for the Gulf Motel (Poetry) - especially the second
part; also recommended is his inaugural poem, One Today
Anthony Pinn, Terror and Triumph:  The Nature of Black Religion

Topic G) Environmental Issues
Assigned Book:  *Lester R. Brown, World on the Edge:  How to Prevent
Environmental and Economic Collapse *(2011) Kindle $9.75
Recommended books:
Carolyn Merchant, Reinventing Eden:  The Fate of Nature in Western Culuture
Robert Bullard, Dumping in Dixie:  Race, Class and Environmental Quality
Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming
and What We Can Do.  Also the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" is excellent.

Topic H) Globalization and Ethnic Issues
Assigned Book:  *Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, The Rich and the Rest of Us:
A Poverty Manifesto *(2012) Kindle $7.92
Recommended book:
Ford Runge, Ending Hunger in Our Lifetime

Topic I) Just Economics and Effective Politics
Assigned book:  *Jeffrey Sachs, Commonwealth Economics for a Crowded
Planet *(2011) Kindle $11.84
Recommended books:
Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed
Recommended website:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:  cbpp.org

Topic J)
Assigned book:  *Walter Fluker, Ethical Leadership: The Quest for
Character, Civility, and Community *(2009) Kindle $15.00
Recommended Book:
Gregg Easterbrook, The Progress Paradox, How Life Gets Better While People
Feel Worse



Of the foregoing, I believe that "The Rich and the Rest of Us" and  "Dog
Whistle Politics" may relate most to the Coates essay.
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