A Healthy Lynnfield with the public library’s help is sponsoring a town-wide read-along of “Waking Up White” with a virtual presentation, featuring author Debby Irving, on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021 from 6:30-8 p.m.
Library Director Jennifer Inglis said the reading is an opportunity to extend local conversations about race and equity mirroring the national debate on these topics.
“We’re really excited about it. There’s been a lot of talk about race and inequity over the last few months in Lynnfield,” Inglis said.
A Healthy Lynnfield, in a statement, called the reading an invitation to ask and answer the question, “I’m a good person, isn’t that enough?”
“Using historical and media images, Irving examines how she used her white-skewed belief system to interpret the world around her. Socialized on a narrow worldview, she explores how she spent decades silently reaffirming harmful, archaic racial patterns instead of questioning the racial disparities and tensions she could see and feel,” added the statement.
To prepare for the workshop, the Lynnfield Public Library is making copies of “Waking Up White” available and Inglis said books should arrive at the Summer Street library next week.
The books can also be accessed through the NOBLE catalog from the library website.
In addition, The Friends of the Lynnfield Library will be selling copies of the book as a fundraiser. Borrowed or purchased copies of the book can be picked up during the library’s front door service hours.
The workshop will include opportunities for reflection, dialog, and questions and answers.
“It is designed to support white people in making the paradigm shift from ‘fixing’ and ‘helping’ those believed to be inferior to focusing on internalized white superiority and its roles in perpetuating racism at the individual, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural levels,” A Healthy Lynnfield’s statement said.
“Waking Up White” isn’t the first community reading launched in Lynnfield with the library’s help. Inglis said a similar initiative was undertaken in 2017. She said the Jan. 14 workshop is the first of three local opportunities to discuss race and equity with a workshop and a lecture planned.
Event sponsors include A Healthy Lynnfield and its Diversity Work Group, including: Town of Lynnfield, Lynnfield For Love, Lynnfield Clergy Association, Lynnfield Anti-Racist League, and the Lynnfield Public Library.
Register for the workshop by January 8, 2021 at www.ahealthylynnfield.org/events. Space is limited.
For more information, see https://www.lynnfieldlibrary.org/, call 781-334-5411, or email [email protected].
A Healthy Lynnfield is an active community partnership and a 501(c)3 charitable organization working hard to prevent substance abuse and to ensure those impacted have the help they need.
Its mission is to empower residents to make positive choices every day by preventing substance misuse, improving the quality of life for those impacted, and supporting programs that help all young people thrive. Learn more at www.Ahealthylynnfield.org.
