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December Anti-Racism Book Discussion

Wednesday 8 December 2021

Monthly racial justice book discussion. December’s selection: “Everything Sad is Untrue” by Daniel Nayeri

 

As author and activist Angela Davis said, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.” Join us for a monthly discussion around issues of racial justice. This month, we will read and discuss the book, Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

“A patchwork story is the shame of the refugee,” Nayeri writes early in the novel. In an Oklahoman middle school, Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family’s history, stretching back years, decades, and centuries. At the core is Daniel’s story of how they became refugees—starting with his mother’s vocal embrace of Christianity in a country that made such a thing a capital offense, and continuing through their midnight flight from the secret police, bribing their way onto a plane-to-anywhere. Anywhere becomes the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy, and then finally asylum in the U.S. Implementing a distinct literary style and challenging western narrative structures, Nayeri deftly weaves through stories of the long and beautiful history of his family in Iran, adding a richness of ancient tales and Persian folklore.

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