Great Reads/Part 1

Saturday, September 6, 2025

TIME: 11am - Noon LOCATION: Keys Community Room CONTACT: Sara Truog, 617.698.5757

Join us for Part 1 of a 3-part discussion series on Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, adapted and illustrated by Joel Christian Gill.

This discussion series is part of the 2025 MA Great Reads program, sponsored by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. A brief description of the selected text has been provided by the sponsor:

“Racism has persisted throughout history—but so have antiracist efforts to dismantle it. Through deep research and a gripping narrative that illuminates the lives of five key American figures, preeminent historian Ibram X. Kendi—in collaboration with award-winning historian and comic artist Joel Christian Gill—reveals how understanding and improving the world cannot happen without identifying and facing the racist forces that shape it. The graphic-novel adaptation of Dr. Kendi’s groundbreaking Stamped from the Beginning explores, with vivid clarity and dimensionality, the living history of America, and how we can learn from the past to work toward a more equitable, antiracist future.”

In this introductory session, we invite you to join us in collaboration with Courageous Conversations for a preliminary discussion of graphic novels as a medium for historical nonfiction, as well as some introductory discussion of Stamped’s major themes.

In the second session (September 20), we will take a deeper dive into Stamped to discuss our thoughts and experiences with its content and themes. A third session (September 25) will provide us with the opportunity to ask the graphic novelist questions in a virtual Q&A session.

Registration is required for each session and will open two weeks in advance of each program date. Participants will be provided with a free copy of the graphic novel. Please register with plans to attend Part Two of the discussion on September 20 and Part Three on September 25. As an intergenerational book group, we invite anyone ages 13+. Family registrations encouraged! Sponsored by the Milton Public Library, Courageous Conversations, and the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

You can register here!