We invite you to join us for the next Community Book Club!

Caste; The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson is the sixth book in Neighborhood Leadership Institute's Community Book Club. Dozens of community members have contributed to ongoing dialogue on social justice in previous
groups. Now, you can join in for our discussions beginning Tuesday April 6th.
The group will convene for eight weeks, with the last session scheduled for May 25th.  Guests will participate in weekly discussions led by NLI facilitator GiGi
Elder. Participants should be ready to discuss the Introduction and Chapter One
at the first session. 

About the book:

Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars
that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she
shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day.
She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that
there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against;
she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally,
she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and
destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.