Lenawee County community book study to focus on social justice
ADRIAN — While it may have taken a few months to finally come together, Adrian-area and Lenawee County organizations are teaming up to host a two-part community book study that starts Thursday, Oct. 12, and continues Nov. 2.
“The Moment: Changemakers on Why and How They Joined the Fight for Social Justice" by Steve Fiffer is the subject of the book study that will get started from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Adrian District Library, 143 E. Maumee St., downtown Adrian. Attendees will meet in the library’s community room.
Fiffer will join the study group virtually Nov. 2 and share how stories from the book “have challenged and inspired youth and community members to make a positive change in their community,” a news release from Bob Behnke said.
People interested in attending both sessions of the book study can register at tinyurl.com/AdrianTheMomentStudy. There is no cost to register or attend.
To learn more about this event, contact Behnke, founder of the Adrian Diversity Parade and Community Event Fund, at behnke168@gmail.com or by calling 248-730-7650.
The Adrian Diversity Parade and Community Event fund is one of the co-sponsors of the book study along with the Lenawee County branch of the NAACP, Latino Leaders for the Enhancement of Advocacy and Development (LLEAD) Adrian, The M Society and the Lenawee Intermediate School District (LISD).
Behnke will lead the book study, which he said focuses on social justice and how people can make a positive change in their community. Teachers, educators, students and community members are welcome to attend.
Teachers and administrators who attend will have an opportunity to learn about State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECH) and how to renew their teacher or administrator license through the LISD, the release said. SCECHs are hours earned by educators when attending professional development activities that are provided by SCECH sponsors and approved by the Michigan Department of Education.
The book study and Fiffer’s participation were originally scheduled for May through Adrian’s Human Relations Commission. The program, at the time, was one of several events the HRC had planned for the public to attend. Those events were placed on hiatus when the Adrian City Commission put a pause on any HRC activities and began investigating its mission and purpose to ensure it was making the best use of its time according to its ordinance. Discussions on fine-tuning the HRC’s ordinance are ongoing.
More: Adrian City Commission decides to not disband city's Human Relations Commission
Fiffer, who resides in Evanston, Illinois, currently serves on the advisory board of the Chicago-based Civic Leadership Foundation. He is the author or the memoir, “Three Quarters, Two Dimes and a Nickel.” Most recently, he collaborated with the late civil rights icon, C.T. Vivian, on his memoir, “It's in the Action: Memories of a Nonviolent Warrior.” He also collaborated with Southern Poverty Law Center co-founder Morris Dees on two award-winning memoirs, “A Season for Justice” and “Hate on Trial.”
Fiffer also is the co-author of “Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths and the Movement that Changed America,” which is a Harlem Book Fair nonfiction finalist, and with his wife, Sharon, wrote “50 Ways to Help Your Community: A Handbook for Change.”
His work on “The Moment” began in July 2021, Behnke said, at which time the basis for starting the book was a yearning to interview people — well known and little known, of all ages, races and backgrounds — and record their stories of the moment they realized they became involved in the social justice movement.
The interviews were conducted while the nation was still in the COVID-19 crisis and dealing with the effects of the Jan. 6 insurrection and the murders of George Floyd and other Black men.
“Congress was unable to pass criminal justice reform legislation or a voting rights bill to pre-empt actual election steals plotted by undemocratic state legislators. Local school boards were banning books. Even the baseball season was delayed,” Fiffer said.
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Because of the varied stories shared by the changemakers he interviewed, Fiffer said, reader’s eyes will be opened and they will become inspired to act when their own movement arrives “thanks to these stories.”
“I didn’t fully understand the psychological damage that appropriated team mascots can inflict on Indigenous people, particularly children. And I never gave much thought to how much architecture and design can result in injustice and inequality,” he said. “…I will be forever grateful to the changemakers whose words follow for their thoughtful, candid, and, often, poignant responses — not to mention their own efforts. Those responses were as varied as the changemakers themselves, but there was one theme that arose over and over again: the importance of storytelling.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Community book study on social justice begins Thursday, Oct. 12
