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Common Read: “The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome” by Alondra Nelson
February 23, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Free
Registration is now open for for the six session common read of The Social Life of DNA, sponsored by the UUFANJ Reparations Task Force. Sessions will be conducted over Zoom on Feb 23, March 9, March 23, April 6, April 27, and May 11 from 7:00-8:30pm.
The common read curriculum is prepared with leadership by Dionne Ford, author, and Dr. Mahdi Ibn-Ziyad, Reparations Task Force Co-Chair.
Course outline:
Feb. 23, Preface and Introduction (29 pps)
March 9, Chapters 1 & 2: Reconciliation Projects & Ground Work (24pps)
March 23, Chapter 3 & 4: Game Changer & The Pursuit of African Ancestry (41 pps)
April 6, Chapters 5 & 6: Roots Revelations & 6 Acts of Reparation (27 pps)
April 27, Chapter 7 The Rosa Parks of the Reparations Litigation Movement (20 pps)
May 11, Chapter 8 & 9: DNA Diasporas & Racial Politics After the Genome (26 pps)
About The Social Life of DNA
In The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome, Alondra Nelson details how DNA testing is being used to grapple with the unfinished business of slavery: “to foster reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery reparations.” In her deep dive into the intersection of genetic ancestry and racial politics, Nelson gives an overview of US reparations projects over the past century including one in our backyard – the African Burial Ground in New York City. Now a national monument and the oldest and largest known excavated burial ground in North America for both free and enslaved Africans, the African Burial Ground was a major factor in the development of consumer DNA testing, a multi-billion dollar industry.
Teaming up with Source of Knowledge
UU FaithAction NJ is working with Source of Knowledge—a Newark-based bookstore and community center that centers Black art, Black literature, culture, and community—to stock copies of The Social Life of DNA for our members. Price is $20, plus $4 shipping if you do not pick up at their shop in Newark. Please indicate your intention to purchase from Source of Knowledge; copies have been ordered, and we will contact our members as soon as they are available.
Alternatively, paperback copies are available from Beacon Press ($20), and E-Book copies are available from Bookshop.org ($10).