The Goffstown Public Library Community Conversations series is designed to help us understand issues affecting our community and provide a starting point to open up conversations. Community Conversations bring together resources, experts, and concerned community members to discuss complicated issues in a gracious, safe space.
Courageous Community Conversations Across Difference: Can we talk about Race?*
The 2019 Courageous Community Conversations are focused on race and diversity in America. Our reading list and conversations are designed to help us understand many racial and cultural issues, as well as provide a starting point to open up the conversation about race in Goffstown, and hopefully, in other surrounding communities. In our present social environment, it is important to be racially and culturally diverse, to be socially aware, and to learn and grow.
If you would like to get involved in our 2019 Winter/Spring Courageous Community Conversations, please start by reading Waking Up White by Debby Irving.
The Goffstown Public Library offers a variety of book formats for readers, from physical books to e-audio and e-book formats available via computer and mobile device apps. For more information, please visit the library catalog, www.goffstownlibrary.com/digital, or call the Library at 603-497-2102.
Waking Up White by Debby Irving
Understanding and Dismantling Racism : The Twenty-First Century Challenge to White America by Joseph Barndt
My Grandmother’s Hands : Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Governor’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion
2019 Courageous Community Events
Here is a list of important events to attend if you are taking part in the 2019 Courageous Community Conversations, or if you are interested in how race affects American culture and society.
- Currier Museum of Art – Visit the Currier at 150 Ash Street in Manchester and take the Making visible self-guided tour, bringing focus to the unseen.
- Download the Making visible brochure created by the Currier for this event.
- Request the museum pass at www.goffstownlibrary.com/passes for a discounted rate on regular admission when you visit (funded by the Friends of the Goffstown Public Library).
Telling the Truth
- Book Discussions – Waking Up White by Debby Irving
- Tuesday, 2/5/19 at Goffstown Public Library, 6:30 p.m.
- Thursday, 2/7/19 at St. Matthew’s Parish House, 7 p.m.
- Wednesday, 3/20/19 at Goffstown Public Library, 1:30 p.m.
- Thursday, 2/21/19 at Saint Anselm College in the Dana Center – I’m a Good Person! Isn’t That Enough? Public Lecture by Author Debby Irving at 7 p.m., part of the Bean Distinguished Lecture Series. Snow date: 4/4/19. Registration is required.
- Tuesday, 4/30/19 at Goffstown Public Library – Culturally Curious: Race and Art at 6:30 p.m. Registration is required.
Proclaiming the Dream
Recommended readings: Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech and Understanding and Dismantling Racism : The Twenty-First Century Challenge to White America by Joseph Barndt.
- Tuesday, 2/19/19 at Goffstown Public Library – Deborah Ann Goss presents Abby Hutchinson’s Sweet Freedom Songs at 6:30 p.m. Made possible by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities. Registration is required.
- Tuesday, 3/19/19 at Goffstown High School in the Media Center/Library – What is “the dream?” Community Conversation at 6:30 – 8 p.m. Registration is required.
- Wednesday, 3/27/19 at St. Lawrence Church – Ask a Muslim Anything with Robert Azzi at 6:30 p.m. Registration is required.
Practicing the Way
Recommended reading: My Grandmother’s Hands : Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem.
- Friday, 4/5/19 at Goffstown Parks & Recreation Department – COLORBLIND: Rethinking Race at 10 a.m. Registration is required.
- Tuesday, 4/16/19 at Goffstown High School in the Media Center/Library – How Will We Grow? Community Conversation at 6:30 – 8 p.m. Registration is required.
Repairing the Breach
Recommended reading: reports from the Governor’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion, and The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein.
- Sunday, 4/7/19 at Goffstown Public Library – Human Library 1 – 3 p.m.
- Wednesday, 5/22/19 at Saint Anselm College in the NH Institute of Politics – Repair, Restore, Heal in Our Community Community Conversation at 7 p.m. Registration is required.
Courageous Community Conversations Across Difference: Repair, Restore, Heal*
These final workshops and conversations for 2019 are the result of attendee evaluations and requests from earlier dialogs.
- Saturday, 10/12 at 10 a.m. – White Privilege and Microaggressions in Greater Goffstown – Discussion at Saint Anselm College, President’s Dining Room in Davison Hall.
- Tuesday, 10/29 at 6:30 p.m. – Recognizing and Understanding Implicit Bias – Discussion at Parks & Recreation Department, Conference Room.
- Tuesday, 11/19 at 6:30 p.m. – Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault 101 – Presented by Vanessa S. Valdes, Community Education Advocate – Crisis Services, YWCA NH at NH Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, West Wing.
- Saturday, 12/14 at 10 a.m. – Active Bystander Training – Presented by Aron DiBacco, Granite State Organizing Project at Goffstown Fire Department on Church Street.
2020 Courageous Community Events
In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, incidents in NH such as the arrest of Jean Ronald Saint Preux, and numerous slights in our own Greater Goffstown community have caused many of us to examine our beliefs about discrimination and racial justice. After having elected an African American as President, many people thought racism was behind us. Yet recent events seem to prove otherwise.
These events are facilitated by James McKim, President of the Manchester Branch of the NAACP.
- Tuesday, 7/14/2020 online via Zoom – Can We Talk About Race? at 7 p.m. with James McKim, President of the Manchester Branch of the NAACP, and Cole Riel, NH State Representative. Sponsored by the Goffstown Public Library and St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church.
- Tuesday, 8/11/2020 online via Zoom – History of Racial Discrimination at 7 p.m. Do you know the real history of racial discrimination? Come discuss the 400+ years since slaves were first brought to these shores (including New Hampshire) and how that history shapes who we are today.
- Tuesday, 8/25/2020 online via Zoom – Microaggressions & White Privilege at 7 p.m. Implicit bias leads to White Privilege and Microaggressions. Why are they so difficult to recognize? Come discuss how to recognize these manifestations of implicit bias and what you can do to de-bias yourself.
- Tuesday, 9/15/2020 online via Zoom – Institutional Racism at 7 p.m. Racism exists at the individual, group, and institutional levels. What does that mean? Come discuss how discrimination manifests at those varying levels and shapes how we live today.
- Tuesday, 9/29/2020 online via Zoom – How to Be An Advocate at 7 p.m. You want to help dismantle racism and end the violence toward people of color that seems to have exploded into our conscience over the last few months. But you don’t feel like you know how. Or you are afraid to say anything because it might offend or do more harm than good. Come discuss how you can be an advocate for social justice, not just a silent by-stander.
- Thursday, 10/29/2020 online via Zoom – Law Enforcement at 7 p.m. The recent incidents of killings of unarmed people of color and the subsequent protests around law enforcement have been a catalyst for discussions across the country and here in Goffstown. Join Goffstown Police Chief Eric Sereno and Manchester NAACP President James McKim (who served on the recent NH Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency) for a discussion of what has been happening in New Hampshire and Goffstown to make sure our community is welcoming and safe for all.
Resources
Courageous Community Conversations is a collaborative project between:
Episcopal Church of New Hampshire
Goffstown Public Library
Granite State Organizing Project
Saint Anselm College
Crispin’s House
For more information, please contact:
- Dianne Hathaway, Goffstown Public Library Director, 497-2102, dianneh@goffstownlibrary.com
- Deborah McCarter, Saint Anselm College
- Gwen Verkuilen-Chevalier, Saint Anselm College
- James McKim, Episcopal Church of NH
- David Basora, Goffstown Public Library
*The “Courageous & Civil Conversations Across Difference: Can we talk about Race?” initiative sponsored by Saint Anselm College, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church Goffstown, the Goffstown Public Library, Granite State Organizing Project and others is not affiliated or associated with or based on intellectual property owned by Glenn E. Singleton, Curtis W. Linton, Pacific Educational Group, Inc. or Corwin. “COURAGEOUS CONVERSATION” and “COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS” are trademarks of Pacific Educational Group, Inc. – “Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools” 2nd Edition © (2015) by Glenn E. Singleton published by Corwin. “More Courageous Conversations About Race,” 1st Edition © (2012) by Glenn E. Singleton published by Corwin. “Facilitator’s Guide to Courageous Conversations About Race” © (2006) by Glenn Eric Singleton and Curtis Linton published by Corwin. “Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools,” © (2005) by Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis W. Linton published by Corwin.
Here is a list of important events to attend if you are taking part in the 2019 Courageous Community Conversations, or if you are interested in how race affects American culture and society.