How does our past shape our organizing for a more just future?
Beth Howard, SURJ National’s Cultural Strategist, beautifully weaves this question throughout her newly released memoir, Song for a Hard-Hit People: A Memoir of Antiracist Solidarity from a Coal Miner’s Daughter.
You may remember Beth’s viral piece, Rednecks for Black Lives, written in Summer 2020 as a call for white antiracist solidarity. Song for a Hard Hit People shares Beth’s pathway to antiracist organizing, which is inextricably linked with her experiences growing up as a coal miner’s daughter in Appalachia. Hear Beth speak about this in her recent reel about the book.
Join us on Wednesday, April 29 from 5:00pm-7:00pm at Housing Works Bookstore for the New York City stop on Beth’s book tour to hear her reflections as an organizer and writer. Beth will be in conversation with her dear friend Morgan Bassichis, a prominent organizer and spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace and writer and star of the critically acclaimed Can I Be Frank?
At the book talk, co-hosted by Libertroph Magazine and Haymarket Books, participants will explore what it means for our stories to be shaped by those who came before us and how understanding our lineage can strengthen our activism. Books will be available for purchase during the event, and there will be time for connection and guided art-making before and after the conversation. Should be fun!
Can’t join us next week but still want to be in conversation with Beth? The SURJ NYC Calling In team is planning a virtual book club in mid-June, featuring an author Q&A with Beth herself on the evening of June 17th. Sign up here to be the first to get the book club full details.
Onward,
SURJ NYC