By Dwight Panozzo
The Accountability Circle met on Sunday, Sept. 18, to discuss an interview given by John McWhorter about his book “Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America.” Although the participants found the material compelling and worthy of further exploration, we also decided that the book focused on one side of the issue. Because the purpose of the Accountability Circle is to thoroughly explore issues where a difference of opinion exists and then to act in an ethical manner once an understanding is reached, we decided that we needed more than McWhorter’s voice.
Therefore, starting in October, we will begin reading brief passages from two different books and bring our thoughts, questions, and concerns from both books to our Zoom meetings. The two books are “Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America” by John McWhorter and “How to be an Antiracist” by Ibram X Kendi. Used and library copies of both books are readily available and future participants are encouraged to read selected passages in advance and comment on them beforehand on this Google Doc for McWhorter’s book and this Google Doc for Kendi’s book. We will be using people’s comments and further reflections on those comments to guide our next Zoom discussion, which will be on Sunday, Oct.23, at 7 pm.
For the Oct. 23 meeting, please read up to page 23 in Kendi’s book and page 22 in McWhorter’s book, including all introductory material in both books.
Feel free to email or text me, Dwight Panozzo, PhD, LCSW, at [email protected] or 201-315-7095 for text, with questions and concerns about the Accountability Circle.
The Zoom link for our Oct. 23 meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82053876415?pwd=c0M5NGdFMHhZcWNjV1ZReEE5WFI5UT09
Meeting ID: 820 5387 6415
Passcode: 397628
Dial in: 1 929 205 6099
Member Dwight Panozzo is facilitator of the Accountability Circle.
