VIRTUAL: Lift Every Voice: Black Poetry Inspires with Shodekeh

VIRTUAL: Lift Every Voice: Black Poetry Inspires with Shodekeh
Thursday, April 8, 2021
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Shodekeh Talifero — beatboxer, vocal percussionist, breath artist and Innovator-in-Residence at Towson’s College of Fine Arts and Communication — will interpret Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” through breath art. An interdisciplinary panel discussion will follow with Shoedekeh, multimedia artist, educator, and organizer Ada Pinkston, and Dr. Donn Worgs, Professor of Political Science and Program Director of the African American Studies Minor at TU.
Register HERE
The Lines Between Us with auther Lawrence Lanahan
The Lines Between Us with auther Lawrence Lanahan
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Award-winning journalist Lawrence Lanahan will discuss his 2019 book, The Lines Between Us: Two Families and a Quest to Cross Baltimore’s Racial Divide. The book examines the intertwined histories of race and development in Baltimore and how continued hyper-segregation limits equity, social mobility, and our collective progress today. A Q & A with Lanahan will follow the talk. Register HERE
Virtual: Starting the Conversation with Kondwani Fidel
Starting the Conversation with Kondwani Fidel
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
5:00pm – 6:00pm
Kondwani Fidel will dig into the tradition of African American poetry, share his own poetry, and shed light on how this tradition can help us understand racism and take anti-racist action.
Book giveaway!10 participants will receive a copy of Kondwani Fidel’s new book The Anti-Racist: How to Start the Conversation and Take Action courtesy of the Center for Student Diversity.
Register HERE
VIRTUAL: NaNoWriMo Come Write In!
VIRTUAL: NaNoWriMo Come Write In!
Wednesday, November 18th
6:00pm-8:00pm
Online Event: Register at HERE
Join us for a virtual writing group! Whether you’re writing a novel or a term paper, it can be helpful to have moral support. We’re here for you!
VIRTUAL: NaNoWriMo Creative Writing Games
VIRTUAL: NaNoWriMo Creative Writing Games
Wednesday, November 4th
3:00pm-4:30pm
Online Event: Register at HERE
Spend the afternoon writing with us! We’ve prepared some fun prompts and creative writing games that we’re so excited to share with you.
Friendship and Mental Health in Times of Crisis
Friendship and Mental Health in the Times of Crisis
Tuesday, October 20th
12:00pm-1:00pm
Online Event: Register at http://bit.ly/CookFriendship
Join us for a conversation with the Counseling Center’s Dr. Elizabeth Cook, inspired by Lisa See’s Island of Sea Women, this year’s One Maryland, One Book. Dr. Cook will speak briefly about how you can take care of your self and your loved ones during this difficult time, then we will open up the floor for a Q&A.
Virtual Human Library

The events will take place on Tuesday, October 6, 3:30pm-5:50pm and Wednesday, October 7, 12:00pm-2:00pm via Zoom.
The Albert S. Cook Library and the Center for Student Diversity are excited to bring the Human Library to TU virtually this year!
The Human Library is a conversation event, where people act as books with titles like: Muslim, Gay, Republican, Alcoholic, Lesbian, ADHD, Lower income, Transgender, etc. Essentially, people become a library of human beings! Books are checked out by patrons who want to have a conversation. Ultimately, the event hopes to challenge societal prejudices and to bring a better understanding of community to everyone involved. We want to show the world, “don’t judge a book by its cover!”
Ready to participate in this year’s Human Library? Volunteer to be a book or register to be a reader.
Have questions? Contact Clare Kuntz Balcer at ckuntz@towson.edu and/or Saidat Adeleke at sadaleke@towson.edu.
Free Film Screening- Border South

Border South Film Screening
This film will be available for 24 hours from September 24 at 4pm to September 25 at 4pm.
Join us for a free screening of Border South by director Raúl O. Paz Pastrana. This is part of a series of events that will take place as we prepare to host an installment of Hostile Terrain 94, a participatory art project sponsored and organized by the Undocumented Migration Project.
Visit this link tree for access to Spanish and English versions of the film, as well as a link to register for a live Q&A with director Raúl O. Paz Pastrana and anthropologist Jason de León on the 25th at 5pm.
We’re Here to Help! How the Library Can Help You Succeed

Every Thursday, 12p-12:30p
This semester is going to be different, but that doesn’t mean we’re going anywhere. Join us for a virtual event where you can meet library staff and learn how we can help you navigate this new digital college experience! Participants will be entered to win a $25 GrubHub gift card.
You can join at bit.ly/CookHello
New Jim Crow Community Book Series (Online)

Thursday, September 10, October 8, and November 12, 5-6pm
This community book series, hosted by Albert S. Cook Library Leadership Institute for Students (A-LIST), is a space to explore concrete ways to respond to Michelle Alexander’s call to dismantle they system of mass incarceration that has tainted the Black and African American community politically, legally, economically, culturally, and, morally. The goal is for readers to feel open in sharing their reactions and reflections in a brave and trusting community. With all this in mind, we hope people use this as a springboard to act for racial justice. The e-book version of the New Jim Crow is available through Cook Library. Visit this link or watch this video on how to access it.
Discussions will be held on Zoom and participants must register in advance.
September 10th, 5-6pm: Discuss Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2
October 8th, 5-6pm: Discuss Chapters 3 and 4
November 12th, 5-6pm: Discuss Chapters 5 and 6