St. James' Diversity Book Club

The Diversity Book Club’s Winter/Spring Season

The Diversity Book Club is a ministry of St. James’ Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission. The discussions are held at noon in the Toppie Bates Lakeside Room (and via Zoom) and are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Judy Holmes (judyholmes76@gmail.com) or Meg Osborne (mhosborne7@gmail.com).

Great Reads Found in the St. James’ Book Nook!

Looking for a good read over the coming winter months? Look no further than the Diversity Book Nook conveniently located in the cupboard in the back of the St. James’ Nave. All are welcome to borrow books and/or lend books to the collection. Borrowers are asked to sign out the books in the notebook located on the shelf and sign the books back in when returned. Lenders are asked to include their names in the books so the books can be returned to their owners. The Diversity Book Nook includes several of the titles (fiction and nonfiction) that the Diversity Book Club has featured over the past two years. The Nook also includes other titles (including children’s books) written by diverse authors whose works address the difficult issues facing our society today from a faith perspective, through memoir, and through the lens of extraordinary characters readers won’t soon forget. The Diversity Book Nook is a ministry of St. James’ Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission. Contact Judy Holmes (judyholmes76@gmail.com) with questions.

Next Discussion May 18 at 12pm in the Lakeside Room.

Compelling and sensitive, this book presents a vivid picture of the “Black Wall Street” in the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the day it was destroyed. In Black Birds in the Sky, the Black community comes to life, not solely as “victims,” but as the people they were before the incident — smart, resourceful people pursuing the American dream despite the obstacles. Author Brandy Colbert spares none of the horror of Black residents killed by their White neighbors or run out of town, their property destroyed or stolen. By giving voice to witnesses who are still alive in 2021, she underscores that the past is really still with us. By sharing quotes from Black survivors as well as White allies, she emphasizes that this extraordinarily terrible event happened to ordinary people, just minding their own business. The result is thought-provoking in addition to being emotionally resonant.

The Diversity Book Club is a ministry of St. James’ Racial Justice and Reconciliation
Commission. For more information, contact Judy Holmes (judyholmes76@gmail.com)
or Meg Osborne (mhosborne7@gmail.com).

2024 Fall Book Discussions

November 24

The Fall 2024 season will continue on Nov. 24 with Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor, an author, teacher and Episcopal priest. Holy Envy describes Taylor’s experiences teaching an undergraduate course in comparative religions and how those experiences both deepened her faith and led to a deep appreciation and understanding of the faith of others. In an era where Christian Nationalism is making headlines, Holy Envy presents a reflective side of the equation revealing the richness inherent in the diverse array of religious practices in our nation.

“Part of my ongoing priesthood is to find the bridge between my faith and the faiths of other people, so that those of us who draw water from wells on different sides of the river can still get together from time to time, making the whole area safer for our children,” Taylor says.

October 13

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng’s

Published in 2022, the novel focuses on a 12-year-old boy, whose Chinese-American mother has disappeared in much the same way as library books have disappeared off of shelves and school children have disappeared from families. What’s more, no one talks about the disappearances; it is as if the people and books never existed. Approved public discourse focuses on how the “Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act (PACT)” enabled the U.S. to recover from “The Crisis.”

Is Ng’s brilliantly written novel a simple example of dystopian fiction or a thinly disguised commentary on extreme nationalism, racial violence, police brutality, economic inequality, free speech and book banning? Read the book and join our discussion on Oct. 13.

Past Book Discussions & Suggested Reads

March 17- Once I was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America (2020) by Maria Hinojosa

February 2024 – The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan

November 2023 – Black Klansman: Race, Hate and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth

October 2023 – Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

June 2023 – Justified by her Children: Deed of Courage Confronting a Tradition of Racism by Roy G. Pollina

April 2023 – Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

March 2023 – Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Feb 2023 – The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama

January 2023 – This Band of Sisterhood: Black Women Bishops on Race, Faith, and the Church Edited by Westina