American Politics and Community Today, a Reading & Discussion program sponsored by LWVNYS o

What does it mean to be an American in the 21st century? What does a model American do, and what responsibilities do Americans have to their communities and each other? How have the answers to these questions changed over the history of the United States? The participants in the reading and discussion program “American Politics and Community Today” will engage with these questions and others regarding politics and the current state of civic thought, feeling, and participation. online via Zoom
The League of Women Voters of Albany County and Albany Public Library invite you to participate in a four session online group reading and discussion series of American Politics & Community Today
American Politics & Community Today will examine these issues through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).Participants will read two books :
Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship Since Brown v. Board of Education by Danielle Allen. Danielle Allen looks at the current condition of civic distrust in America, tracing it back to school integration in the 1950s, and suggests practical ways that Americans can begin to overcome the issues that divide them.
The Collected Essays of Ralph Ellison Edited by John F. Callahan; Preface by Saul Bellow These essays by the author of Invisible Man reflect on race, literature, music, and the experience and contradictions of living in America during the 20th century.
The discussion is led by Frankie Bailey. Frankie Y. Bailey, PhD is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice University at Albany (SUNY). She studies crime history, and crime and mass media/popular culture and material culture. She is the author of five mysteries featuring amateur sleuth Lizzie Stuart and two police procedurals novels featuring Albany police detective Hannah McCabe. For more information see her website: http://www.frankieybailey.com and https://www.albany.edu/scj/faculty/frankie-bailey

Register in advance for this meeting: https://tinyurl.com/3f8vavz6
Participants will be emailed a Zoom link upon registration and on the day of each session.