Black Men Read

Session 5

Samuel A Reed III, Mike Pflueger, Munier Abdul-Rahman (Student) — U School

Room 1072

Black Men Read is a pilot project collaboration with U School Educators, students and the Free Library of Philadelphia to attract teens and diverse a range of readers to ensure intergenerational discourse and lively conversations.

The “Black Men Read” conversation will explore the following essential questions:

What are the connections between slavery and the sports-industrial complex?
What Promised Land has sports and entertainment offered Black athletes and entertainers?

What American values can be seen through the prism of sports culture?

In what ways are athletes like Lebron James, Colin Kaepernick, Malcolm Jenkins pushing back against racial oppression.

The model Black men reading and the conversations sparked from the book Forty Million Dollar Slave should motivate participants to develop similar reading groups in their schools and local communities.

At the end of the session, participants will learn how to foster and support Black Men Reading or other affinity groups. And learn how to select interesting book club reading text and engage with lively book discussions.

Conversational Practice

The session will include small group and whole group discussions: U School Students and community members will be Invited to share with participants and discuss? What early lessons can we learn from the book 40 Millon Dollar Slave?

What parts of the book surprised us? What parts caused the most tensions?

How can we take lessons from the book to help us understand the importance of sports, race, and economics?

Are there other books or related topics we should explore?