This is a virtual event that will be held via Microsoft TEAMS.
Last year we lost a lyrical, insightful, insistent, and loving voice in American literature. A woman fully committed to the power of language and cultural integrity. In her 1993 Nobel acceptance speech, she cautioned: ”Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge……..[It]must be rejected, altered, exposed.” Her deeply personal and probing novels investigate every aspect of Black experience across America’s historical spectrum, confronting fundamental questions about human rights, decency, and justice that still challenge us today.
They explore the cultural world she knew and championed. Please watch the 2019 documentary, Toni Morrison, The Pieces I Am, a stunning overview of her entire career and a deep look into her life’s path and work before the first discussion. Led by Dr. Karen Arnold, we will also discuss the work of African American writers she brought to light as a Random House editor, inviting Black writers into the white publishing world. She altered America’s public conversations forever with her vision and the chorus of new, vital voices.
A Microsoft TEAMS link will be emailed out before the event. Please ensure your email is correct.