The author did not force us to read detailed descriptions of violence and abuse. As one of us stated, “whoever has the power.” We could have had an engaging discussion about slavery in general, and slavery in the southern United States in particular, but The Water Dancer was our focus for this discussion. We also discussed how slavery has existed throughout time – and still exists today. Another of us felt the sense of family to be particularly strong and moving. He said that he had never before had it brought home to his heart the psychological harm of being torn away from family. Our first responder this month found The Water Dancer to be an insightful and personal introduction to slavery. He attended Howard University from 1993-1997, and although he did not graduate, “Coates became a journalist, writing for a range of publications that included the Washington Times, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Entertainment Weekly, Time, Village Voice, and the Atlantic.” In 2015, Coates’ second book, Between the World and Me, won the National Book Award for nonfiction. Ta-nehisi Coates was born in 1975-which makes him older than I guessed during the meeting. Half of us had not finished reading The Water Dancer, by Ta-nehisi Coates, but most of us seemed to have been moved by the subject matter. We had a packed meeting this month – with fourteen people and erupting conversations.
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