On Saturday Jan. 19th the Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series delved into Becoming by Michelle Obama. Eighteen people ended up in attendance, all in various stages of still reading, finished, or still listening to the audio-book. This is our all-time high for attendance! Almost everyone at the table could relate to the topics Mrs. Obama wrote about such as having grandparents who were part of the Great Migration of Southern Blacks to the North, the abandonment of the inner cities, and of having parents and grandparents who ended up giving up on their dreams due to lack of educational opportunities and being shut out of trade unions. Mary F. shared how her parents migrated to New Haven from Georgetown SC to look for a better life. They, like Michelle Obama's family witnessed their neighborhood's decline. Mary shared how she went away to college then came back to her old neighborhood to teach, really noticing the deterioration after being away. ...
The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series meets approximately once every six weeks at the Courtland S. Wilson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library in New Haven, CT.