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February 2nd, 2023 -- Renowned artist and Ujima member, Tomashi Jackson, wrapped up her Brown II Book Club through Ujima's arts and culture micro-learning pod.
With support from Ujima's Ashe Ashe Cultural Assembly Grant, Jackson organized a community reading and book club of her publication, Brown II. She worked directly with Ujima staff to distribute physical copies of the publication around Boston, and offered digital copies for non-local participants.
Over 150 people registered for the book club, making this one of Ujima's most popular micro-learning pods to date. Over the course of five months, Jackson facilitated group discussion, and allowed participants to read excerpts aloud, reflect, and invited guest speakers to engage as well. Here's a quick recap of each session, in case you missed it!
First Workshop - Oct 11th, 2022
In the first book club installment, Jackson introduces the Microlearning Pod, with grounding in the histories of educational advocacy, case history before and after Brown vs Board of Education, the racial biases of algorithms, as well as Ubuntu, and much more!
Second Workshop - Nov 9th, 2022
In the next book club installment, Jackson and participants respond to the implications of tech policy on civil rights with contributions from Rashida Richardson and readings on the history of school desegregation efforts in Boston from David Harris.
Third Workshop - Dec 7th, 2022
In the next book club installment, Jackson and participants explore readings on the racial biases of algorithms through contributions by Meredith Whittaker.
Fourth Workshop - Jan 4th, 2023
In the next book club installment, Jackson and participants read and respond to the case history before and after Brown vs. Board of Education. Also, the group reflects on Ubuntu and the relationship between political systems and cultural conceptions of personhood with contributions by Sabelo Sethu Mhlambi.
Final Workshop - Feb 1st, 2023
In the final book club session, Jackson and participants read and respond to "On the Legacy and Leadership of Ida B. Wells, Pauli Murray, Constance Baker Motley, and Ruth Batson." Donna Bivens, Nia K. Evans, Matt Cregor, and David J. Harris join to offer their thoughts on Tomiko Brown-Nagin's essay, and participants share final reflections.
Check out the full Brown II playlist on our Youtube channel here.