What Truth Sounds Like by Michael Eric Dyson

Michael Eric Dyson has written 19 books, including 4 best-sellers and we own several of his titles (Making Malcolm, The Black Presidency, Tears We Cannot Stop) so I was curious to see his latest: WHAT TRUTH SOUNDS LIKE which is subtitled “RFK, James Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America.”  Here, Dyson reviews a private breakfast meeting held in 1963 between then attorney general Robert Kennedy and a group of black intellectuals and entertainers (Lorraine Hansberry, freedom rider Jerome Smith, Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte) organized by James Baldwin. Dyson summarizes the meeting as a “watershed moment in American politics, revealing the limits of liberal good will and the explosive power of truth through testimony.”

He argues, “if hope led people to that room more than 50 years ago ... that hope will still be our guide in continuing conversation today.” Dyson, a Georgetown University Professor, then compares and contrasts with current actions and discussions involving activists, artists, intellectuals, and politicians, referring to Colin Kaepernick, Jay-Z, Kamala Harris, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Cornel West, and many others.  Throughout, there is much focus on anger, but students will likely be intrigued by the historical ties to present day events as well as the section where Dyson comments on The Black Panther and fictional Wakanda.  WHAT TRUTH SOUNDS LIKE received a starred review from Booklist. 

Eunice by Eileen McNamara

EUNICE by Eileen McNamara, subtitled “The Kennedy Who Changed the World,” was an eye-opening read which I think our students, particularly those who need to write about someone who made a difference, will appreciate.  As the publisher notes, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was “a woman both ahead of her time and out of step with it: the visionary founder of the Special Olympics, a devout Catholic in a secular age, and a formidable woman whose impact on American society was longer lasting than that of any of the Kennedy men.”  It was interesting to read the many details about her childhood and adolescence, the influence that her sister Rosemary’s disability likely had on Shriver’s future actions, and the global magnitude of the changes she made as a determined activist.  One estimate was that the Special Olympics, after 50 years of operation, had served more than 4.9 million athletes from 172 countries with more than a million coaches and volunteers. McNamara, an award-winning journalist from The Boston Globe, describes Shriver’s “compassion as the engine that propelled her to fight for the forgotten.” 

To learn more about an extremely influential woman, read EUNICE, a compelling biography which received starred reviews from Kirkus and Library Journal.  Added NOTE: Author Eileen McNamara will be speaking Thursday, April 26th (7:00pm to 8:15pm) at the Glencoe Public Library, 320 Park Avenue for a program in partnership with The Bookstall. 

Ken Burns and The Vietnam War

THE VIETNAM WAR by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns is the book accompanying the new documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick which premieres on September 17; here is the official trailer:

There is more information on the pbs site about schedules, making of the film and an opportunity to share more stories. The book is told in chronological order, ranging from 1858 and the French presence to April, 1975 and the US departure.  Frankly, it is hard to believe that it has been more than 40 years since the Vietnam War ended and 58,000 Americans died, but writing in their introduction Burns and Novick acknowledge that Vietnam was a war of many perspectives and they vow to “faithfully reflect those seemingly irreconcilable outlooks.”  The text which is filled with many photographs, offers perspectives from soldiers, the homefront, Washington, Saigon and Hanoi. THE VIETNAM WAR received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus and we will have a copy in the library soon. You can already read a short excerpt on the publisher's web site.

Ken Burns is appearing in Chicago this week and some of those discussions will be aired on pbs’ Chicago Tonight. Expanding beyond a solely American story, both the book and film are likely to receive awards while stirring memories and emotions from a divided time in our nation’s history.