NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION HOSTS LFJ
DECEMBER 12, 2019
The National Book Foundation is hosting the public free launch event in partnership with the The African American Museum in Fair Park at 6 pm.
Attendees will hear readings of the selected LFJ titles, followed by a panel, Q&A, and book signings.
LFJ is a three-year campaign that seeks to contextualize and humanize the experiences of incarcerated people through literature of different genres, creating an accessible and thought-provoking collection of books crafted for broad public consumption. It is made possible by a three-year grant from the Art for Justice Fund, a sponsored project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Thank You For Giving 
click here |
Complete Press Release click here |
Five contemporary authors and titles for 2019-2020 are:
| Author's Name | asha bandele |
| Featured | The Prisoner's Wife: A Memoir |
| Wrote | 6 books |
| Publisher | Scribner / Simon and Schuster |
| Authors' Names | Susan Burton and Cari Lynn |
| Featured | Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women |
| Founder | and CEO of New Way of Life (Burton) |
| Wrote | 5 books (Lynn) |
| Publisher | The New Press |
| Author's Name | Angela Y. Davis |
| Title | Are Prisons Obsolete? |
| Wrote | Several books |
| Publisher | Seven Stories Press |
| Educator | Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Author's Name | Rachel Kushner |
| Title | The Mars Room |
| Wrote | 2 books |
| Publisher | Scribner / Simon and Schuster |
| Author's Name | Danielle Sered |
| Title | Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair |
| Wrote | 1 book |
| Publisher | The New Press |
This launch event is free and open to the public. Donations are always welcomed. Please see http://prototype.aamdallas.space/faqs.asp to get more details about planning your Museum visit.
| RSVP | at Eventbrite click here |
| Parking | is free and ample parking is just steps away from the Museum entrance |
| Cost | is free |
LFJ committee comprises five esteemed who are also experts and leaders within the space of mass incarceration. They worked alongside the National Book Foundation. The committee members are:
| Michelle Alexander | is a highly acclaimed civil rights attorney, advocate, and legal scholar |
| Authored | The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. |
| Reginald Dwayne Betts | is a poet, memoirist, and lawyer |
| Recipient | is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2018 Emerson Fellowship at New America |
| Zachary Lazar | is the author of 5 books |
| New York Times Notable Book | I Pity the Poor Immigrant |
| Recipient | of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University |
| Advisory Board Member | PEN America Writing’s for Justice Fellowship |
| Kelly Lytle Hernandez | is a poet, memoirist, and lawyer |
| Recipient | a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2018 Emerson Fellowship at New America |
| Shaka Senghor | is a leading voice in criminal justice reform and proud native of Detroit |
| Authored | Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison |
| Memoir | debuted on the New York Times and The Washington Post bestseller lists |
| Fellowships | MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellowship and W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Community Leadership Network |
The launch event is designed to raise the profile of the selected books, and amplify the stories of authors whose texts help to illuminate the various experiences of mass incarceration. Attendees may expect:
| LFJ selection | readings by authors: asha bandele, Susan Burton, Rachel Kushner, and Danielle Sered |
| Panel | compromised of LFJ authors and the National Book Foundation Committee members: Michelle Alexander, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Zachary Lazar, and Kelly Lytle Hernandez |
| Q&A | audience participation is welcomed |
| Book signing | immediately after the Q&A. Books will be on hand to buy. |