As February’s Black History Month transitions into March’s Women’s History Month, it offers a moment to reflect on the remarkable contributions of Black women throughout history. The theme for Black History Month this year was “African Americans and the Arts,” and this opened the door for conversations about Black icons in various areas of the …
Tag Archives: Big Read
Behind the Book: Akua and Willie
The War of the Golden Stool As we look into Akua’s and Willie’s stories in Homegoing, we enter the 20th century. In Africa, the political scene was once again changing. After the Anglo-Ashanti wars at the end of the 19th century the British tried to remain in control by appointing colonial administrators who would work …
Behind the Book: Abena and H
We have officially hit the second half of the book with this section! This week we are going to focus on events and culture around the section of Abena, daughter of James Richard Collins and Akosua Mensah as well as the section on H, the son of Kojo Freeman and Anna Foster. Two of the …
Behind the Book: James and Kojo
As we look deeper into the third generation in the book Homegoing, we are taking a deeper look into Asante funeral traditions, the Anglo-Ashanti wars, and the Fugitive Slave Acts.
Behind the Book: Quey and Ness
Looking into the lives of Quey and Ness of the second generation, let’s dive deeper into food, family ties, and slavery in Homegoing.
A Look Behind the Book: The Akan People and Culture in Homegoing
Our Big Read 2023 season has officially started! If you haven’t seen this year’s selection yet, visit our Big Read website and check them out! We have loved hearing feedback from the community on everyone’s thoughts so far, and we are excited to hear more from you all. Hopefully, you have gotten your hands on …
Continue reading “A Look Behind the Book: The Akan People and Culture in Homegoing”
“It Started Ten Years Ago”
As we launch our newest books, Professor Deb Van Duinen reflects on the journey of starting the Big Read in our community.
Why You Should Participate in the Big Read
Whether you are new to the Big Read Lakeshore program or need more reasons to help convince a friend to check us out, we invite you to consider some good reasons to join us this year! So, what is the Big Read, and why should you get involved? The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) …
Continue reading “Why You Should Participate in the Big Read”
Remembering: The Last Four Years
As we get closer to the announcement for our 10th-anniversary book, we want to finish looking back at the books that we have read together as a community over the last couple of years. In 2019, our 6th year of Big Read Lakeshore, we visited the Mirabal sisters during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican …
Big Read 2020 Wrap-Up: Lessons learned from the”Ethics Aboard the Essex” event
Our Big Read 2020 program may be over but the ideas and insights presented and discussed in our program are still floating around and shaping the way the readers along the Lakeshore are thinking about the world. We’re starting a series of blog posts written by various community members about some of the things they …
Continue reading “Big Read 2020 Wrap-Up: Lessons learned from the”Ethics Aboard the Essex” event”