Karen Ponzio Photos
Members of the Urban Life Experience Book Discussion group.
As the temperature outside edged close to 60 degrees on Saturday, a warm and invigorating meeting of minds and hearts came together inside the Wilson branch of the New Haven Free Public Library for 2024’s first monthly installment of the Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series.
Ongoing since November 2015 (with online meetings during pandemic shutdowns), the attendees meet at noon once a month for approximately 90 minutes to discuss a book chosen by the group’s founder, Marian Huggins. Now the manager of the Mitchell library branch, Huggins originated the series when she worked at the Wilson branch and continues to return there to lead the group. Initially she had trouble getting enough copies of books, but in recent years, thanks to a partnership between the NHFPL and Public Humanities at Yale, the library has been able to get more copies of books chosen for the series.
“The books we read aren’t necessarily great works of literature, but the stories are always interesting and lead to good discussions,” Huggins said. She reads “about 40 books” from August to December and creates a master list of eight or nine for the next calendar year. Though she said she is “always on the lookout for new books,” the group occasionally will read something from the past, like Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
The group also tries to keep with themes, like a poet’s biography for National Poetry Month or a woman’s biography for Women’s History Month. They have also read books with New Haven connections, such as The Other Side of Prospect, and try to read one young adult title a year as well.
“She’s dedicated to this book club,” said Meghan Currey, current branch manager of Wilson, of Huggins.
Fifteen participants attended Saturday’s discussion, some of whom had returned after an absence, some of whom have been coming regularly since almost the beginning (and this reporter for the first time).
The book to be discussed for February was called Never Far from Home: My Journey from Brooklyn to Hip Hop, Microsoft, and the Law, by Bruce Jackson. Currently an associate general counsel for Microsoft and formerly an entertainment lawyer, Jackson documents his struggles both personal and professional that he had previously kept hidden from his colleagues, including his challenges in schools both as a child and at the collegiate level, the racism he encountered that led to false accusations and arrests, and the familial relationships that changed him and helped make him the man he is today.
February's selection and a list of future selections for the year ahead.
Each attendee arrived with notes and copies of the book with passages bookmarked. Huggins thanked all for coming and shared her thoughts first. She told the group that she discovered Jackson donated all the proceeds from his book to five nonprofits, “which I admire a great deal,” she said.
She also talked about how Jackson said he wrote the book to inspire people, as well as how his family members and his relationships with them affected his life. His aunt was the “most inspiring;” his father making him stop selling stolen newspapers “changed the nature of his life.”
The group dove into the discussion with gusto, each member getting a turn at sharing what struck them about the book, any likes and dislikes, questions, and comments. This discussion stayed vivacious and enlightening for the entire 90 minutes. Everyone had their turn, discussions occasionally taking off on tangents based on subjects that were more passionately investigated, and it became a true sharing of wisdom, wonder, and perspective.
One participant said she was “impressed by him being a hair away from being a tragedy” as he maneuvered many incidents that could have led him down a much different path. Another added that he “survived and did well by being exceptional,” but also had at times to “live a double life,” excelling at his job and struggling in his home life. The sentiment was echoed by numerous members of the group.
“He’s a complex man,” said one participant. “I appreciate his willingness to share that.”
The majority of the group agreed that Jackson sharing his story with all of his foibles and successes was appreciated, even if they did not agree with some of his choices. Even the admission that there were those who read his story and had judgments was still discussed with an awareness of perspective and cultural differences.
One participant spoke of “the voice in the back of my head to remember people come from different places,” calling it “eye opening” when reading about the experiences Jackson had of being judged by White people throughout his life.
Another participant found parts of the story “disappointing,” and topics such as code switching and experiences in corporate America were discussed tangentially from some of those comments. The topics of corporations, capitalism, and the behaviors of those involved came up more than once; one participant cited her anger at such situations and another talked about the “messiness” of the system.
Many brought their own personal experiences into the discussion, such as one person who lived in the same area as the author, and others who related to the familial relationships and struggles he encountered. One even made note of the cover photo — the author as a child with his mother and sibling — and pointed out “this person is still inside this person.”
“The way we’re hurt when we are little fuels us the rest of our lives,” they said.
This led to another discussion about the role of the male provider, the need to make a better life for our children, and the caste/class system in this country. One participant noted that there were “good lessons in this book for people who come into money suddenly.” Overall, it seemed that while everyone may have not loved the book, everyone appreciated the story, the author’s perspective, and the sharing of perspectives with others.
Which leads me to this reporter’s perspective, which I shared with the group. This was a book I would most likely have never picked up if it had not been part of this book club. I am grateful for the chance to be introduced to an author and a story I did not choose, and, even better, to get a chance to discuss it with such a vibrant, dedicated, and diverse group of individuals who put their whole soul into the discussion. In the end, I am not interested in someone describing a book as good or bad. I would rather know what stayed with you and made you think, what you learned and what you wished you had not learned, what made you laugh, cry, get angry, roll your eyes, and ask why. That is what this group was about.
One of the participants told me afterward that many in the group had been coming to the book discussion for years and had built a trust that was important to them. How refreshing to know that spaces such as this still exist and thrive, where reading materials that cover topics such as racism, sexism, class, and even whether or not what we wear changes how we are interpreted can be brought up and broken down with a diverse group of book lovers with open hearts and a passion for making a difference.
“It’s a little tiny thing we do here, the tiniest drop in the bucket,” said Huggins, “but it is a drop in the bucket.”
The next meeting of the Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series is planned for March 16. The book Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement, by Barbara Ransby, will be discussed. Please see the NHFPL website for more information about future meetings.