- Thursday, February 29, 2024
- 6:00 PM–7:00 PM
- FREE
We're elated to usher in 2024 with Dolen Perkins-Valdez joining our alumni book club for a Live Author Talk on February 29th, at 6:00 pm ET! This will undoubtedly enrich our dive into Take My Hand January 5th through March 8th.
About the Alumni Book Club
Our office has partnered with PBC Guru to create a virtual book club for alumni, students and friends, covering lifelong learning, personal growth, novels and other books in which the participants are interested. The book club will connect through a private forum where all participants can discuss the current book and network with each other. Joining is completely free; you just have to get a copy of the book to enjoy. The book club will read one book every two months so that you'll have plenty of time for each book. Click here to join the club!
About the author
Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of Wench and Balm. She was a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for fiction, and she was awarded the First Novelist Award by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. She lives in Washington, DC with her family.
About the book
Montgomery, Alabama, 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend intends to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she hopes to help women shape their destinies, to make their own choices for their lives and bodies.
But when her first week on the job takes her along a dusty country road to a worn-down one-room cabin, Civil is shocked to learn that her new patients, Erica and India, are children—just eleven and thirteen years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black, and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits, that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica, and their family into her heart. Until one day she arrives at their door to learn the unthinkable has happened, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.
Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace, and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten. That must not be forgotten.
Because history repeats what we don’t remember.
Inspired by true events and brimming with hope, Take My Hand is a stirring exploration of accountability and redemption.
Registration
The registration deadline has passed.
