Book Club

Book Club’s next read is ‘How to Raise An Antiracist’ by Ibram X. Kendi

Join the virtual author discussion with Boston Globe reporter Kara Baskin at the upcoming Globe Summit.

By Paul Swydan

The Boston.com Book Club has climbed the mountain, and in September it will arrive at the summit – the Globe Summit, that is. The second annual Globe Summit will be held from Sept. 14-16, and our next virtual event will be one of the featured events.

Last year, the first summit reached more than 14,000 attendees across 30 virtually-streamed sessions. The event’s aim is to reach past the daily focus of a newspaper to larger issues and engage with standout leaders and thinkers from the region to talk about issues both local and national.

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For such a special occasion, we had to line up author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. The New York Times bestselling author and college professor will be discussing the economic ramifications of racism on today’s youth, and how parents and caregivers can raise children to be antiracist thinkers and social justice advocates.

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This is a talk perfect for the theme of this year’s summit, which is “The Next Boston,” because the next Boston will be led and populated by today’s children. For this discussion, we’ll be breaking from our typical format of a bookseller host. The discussion will be moderated by Boston Globe journalist Kara Baskin, who writes frequently on parenting, and is no stranger to these types of discussions.

Given his myriad accomplishments, jobs, and books written, it’s hard to succinctly summarize exactly who Dr. Kendi is. Let’s start with this – he is one of the country’s foremost historians and leading antiracist scholars. He is the founding director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, which has joined forces with the Globe opinion page to reimagine The Emancipator, the first antislavery newspaper in the country.

Kendi is the recipient of both a Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowship (the latter of which is more commonly referred to as a “Genius Grant”), and is a National Book Award winner. He’s written or contributed to The Atlantic, CBS News, The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, CNN, ABC, NPR, PBS, and many, many, many more. Simply, Dr. Kendi is everywhere.

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His books are as well. His two latest, which were published on June 14, were the seventh and eighth that he wrote, co-wrote, or edited – a picture book entitled “Goodnight, Racism,” and the second in his how-to series, “How to Raise an Antiracist.”

It’s the latter that will be the focus this month. A New York Times bestseller, the book combines his already accessible work from “How To Be An Antiracist,” and his personal desire to teach children, which was front of mind for him as he was expecting the birth of his first child.

Helping steer the discussion will be Baskin, who has written most prominently for the Globe and McSweeney’s, but also The New York Times, Time, Washington Post, Boston magazine, Bon Appetit, New York Magazine, The New Republic, and Elle, among many others. She serves as a contributing editor for Boston magazine, and also recently signed a deal for a new book, entitled, “Generation Yes: The Modern Woman’s Field Guide to Liberation in Midlife.” She’s also the co-author of “Size Matters: The Hard Facts About the Male Anatomy That Every Woman Should Know.”

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The three will be talking at noon on Friday, Sept. 16. Head here to RSVP for the discussion.

Buy “How to Raise An Antiracist” from Bookshop  

Prior Boston.com Book Club picks: