About us
Black Girls Read Book Club (also known as Black Girls Read Chicago) is a monthly Chicago-based book club that celebrates Black women writers. This is a book club for Black women interested in reading and discussing books written by Black women from the United States and around the world. We read fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and our book discussions take place at various locations in the city. By collectively elevating and celebrating the work of Black women writers, we affirm that our stories matter.
Upcoming events
2
#118: Unapologetic by Charlene A. Carruthers + Picnic and Book Swap
Promontory Point, 5491 South Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, USOur August book selection is Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene A. Carruthers!
Stick around after the book discussion for our "Last Days of Summer" Picnic and Book Swap!
- We will meet at Promontory Point (NOT The Promontory restaurant). Please read the "How to find us" details carefully, especially if you plan to drive.
- We will be outdoors by the lakefront, so make sure to dress comfortably and appropriately for the weather. Remember that it's always cooler by the lake!
- What to bring: (1) a chair or blanket and whatever else you need to be comfortable (2) food and drinks for yourself or to share, and (3) at least one new or gently used book to give away or swap.
***Support Black Girls Read Chicago by purchasing Unapologetic from Bookshop or from LibroFM (affiliate links).***
About the book: A manifesto from one of America’s most influential activists which disrupts political, economic, and social norms by reimagining the Black Radical Tradition.
Drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, including the Haitian Revolution, the US civil rights movement, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This book provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development. It also offers a flexible model of what deeply effective organizing can be, anchored in the Chicago model of activism, which features long-term commitment, cultural sensitivity, creative strategizing, and multiple cross-group alliances. And Unapologetic provides a clear framework for activists committed to building transformative power, encouraging young people to see themselves as visionaries and leaders.
26 attendees
#119: Take What You Can by Naima Coster
Hall Branch, Chicago Public Library, 4801 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, USOur August book selection is Take What You Can by Naima Coster!
Support Black Girls Read Chicago by purchasing Take What You Can from Bookshop or from LibroFM (affiliate links).
About the book: Val and Milly fell in love with France at the same time they fell in love with each other and became immediate best friends. Then, they bonded as the only Black students on a study-abroad trip. Now they are in their thirties, each married and with a baby girl on the way. When Milly suggests Val move to New York so they can raise their daughters together after a decade apart, it’s a resounding yes.
Despite their excitement, the pair secretly wonders if their friendship has always worked best as a trio. On that first trip to France, these two motherless daughters were taken under the wing of an older woman named Helene. She showered them with money, love, and attention and showed them the possibilities of an independent and abundant future. But now, without Helene and her guidance, who are Milly and Val?
Milly, a successful influencer married to restaurant royalty, is occupied with her desire for freedom. Val, a brilliant journalist, is unsure whether she fits into Milly’s new world. The realities of class and social capital, of strained marriages and the demands of motherhood, serve as constant reminders of how far apart they’ve grown. And no matter how much they try to avoid it, everything comes back to the rift that began all those years ago in France. What they’ve long tried to bury may finally destroy their sisterhood.
Weaving between Brooklyn brownstones and the glittering beaches of southern France, Take What You Can is a dazzling novel exploring what it means to be a mother when you have none, a sister without blood ties, and a woman in pursuit of the life she wants. With her signature sharply observed prose, Naima Coster illustrates how to be—and to stay—someone’s person through all phases of life.
16 attendees
Past events
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