Please note: the launch of this event, previously planned for March 9, has been pushed back to Tuesday, March 16 at 6 pm in the Fox and Crow.

Islanders are coming together this year to form a community book club to read and discuss The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power by Desmond Cole. Every month, the PEI Community Reads project will read one chapter and discuss it together using an intersectional and antiracist lens. The club is created with the help of several groups, including UPEI’s Robertson Library and International Student Office, the UPEI Student Union, Prince Edward Island Public Library, Charlottetown Rotary Club, and the Rotaract Club of UPEI.

“As the PEI community continues to grow, we want to ensure we do our best to thrive and grow together,” said Dr. Yolanda Hood, Robertson Library, and one of the organizers of the PEI Community Reads project. “Reading this book together is one way to do that.”

Leila Edwards, Citizens for Public Justice, said in her review of the book,  “The Skin We’re In actively contests Canada’s national narrative by following a year in Black encounters with, and resistance to, white supremacy. Desmond Cole raises a wide range of stories and experiences including microaggressions in employment, anti-Black racism in education, the oppression of Indigenous Peoples, and violent police brutality. He presents the stories and experiences of Black Canadians in a way that validates; it makes our stories accessible and our emotions palpable for readers.... This book forces readers to confront Canada’s historical and contemporary narratives and reflect on what exactly is being celebrated.”

To launch the year-long book club, the Robertson Library will host a viewing of The Skin We're In: Pulling back the curtain on racism in Canada, a film based on the book, on Tuesday, March 16, at 6 pm at the Fox and Crow, the campus pub located in the WA Murphy Student Centre. Space is limited, so please register online for your spot.

For more information, see the PEI Community Reads Facebook group, or call 902-566-0576.