The Columbia Library, in partnership with the Office of Academic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, hosts the NEA Big Read from March 21 through May 17, 2019, and will include a variety of programs, book discussions and other events throughout Chicagoland. All events are free and open to the public.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read is designed to broaden our world through reading. Columbia’s Library, the only Chicago institution awarded a 2018-19 NEA Big Read grant, received $15,000 for its selection Brother, I’m Dying, a 2007 award-winning memoir by Haitian-American novelist, Edwidge Danticat. The book chronicles the intergenerational sacrifices immigrants often make to create a better life in America for their families.
The NEA Big Read 2019 kicks off on Thursday, March 21 at 6 p.m., at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, 600 S. Michigan Ave. with Views of Global Migration: Haiti, featuring an historical perspective on Haitian migration by Mario Lamothe, assistant professor of African American Studies – Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago. LaMothe uses oral history and journalistic accounts to narrate Haitian immigrants’ physical transformation during their captivity in American detention facilities. The event coincides with the MoCP’s current exhibition Stateless: Views of Global Migration, which closes on March 31.
Ms. Danticat will visit Columbia to give the NEA Big Read keynote address, “The American Dream Reconsidered,” which will explore the concept and meaning of the American Dream in the current political environment. Ms. Danticat will be interviewed on stage by Professor Karen Richman, Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame and author of Migration and Vodou. The event takes place on Thursday, April 25, 6 – 8 p.m. at Film Row Center, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th floor. A Columbia student panel on activism, moderated by Columbia College adjunct professor Stan West, takes place prior to the Big Read event, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Film Row Center.
Ms. Danticat will also participate in the NEA Big Read community event “What Makes American Great: Immigrant Policy and Chicago,” which reflects on the role of immigration in shaping Chicago and the U.S. Ms. Danticat’s presentation will include a response panel, featuring noted policy-makers and academics, followed by a celebration of Haitian culture (music, dance, food, and drink). The event takes place on April 26, 6- 9 p.m. Film Row Center, 1104 S. Wabash Ave.
Brother, I’m Dying was selected for the NEA Big Read because it provides an opportunity to explore questions about our nation’s values and identity in the 21st Century. The backdrop for these programs is the decision of the Trump Administration to end the Temporary Protected Status of Haitians living in the United States that was granted following the 2010 earthquake that decimated Haiti. Chicago was founded by the Haitian explorer Jean-Baptist-Point Du Sable and there are currently over 120,000 people of Haitian descent that live in the area.
The events are being presented in partnership with the Haitian Congress, Haitian Consulate General of Chicago, Haitian American Museum of Chicago, DuSable Heritage Association, Midwest Association of Haitian American Women, Haitian Nurses Association, Haitian Book Club, and Concerned Haitian Americans of Illinois. Other NEA Big Read events will take place in public libraries, public schools, and universities in the Chicago area throughout the months of April and May.
For more information about NEA Big Read events and programs, visit https://library.colum.edu/bigread.
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
Photo courtesy: National Endowment for the Arts.
