What does it mean to live in America now?
What does America look like?
How did we get to be who and where we are?
Let's talk about our lives in America today.
Our book selections for this group offer intentionally human-centered explorations of identities and systems impacting contemporary America.
In August we will discuss Call Me American: A Memoir by Abdi Nor Iftin.
"Abdi Nor Iftin first fell in love with America from afar. As a child, he learned English by listening to American pop and watching action films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. When U.S. marines landed in Mogadishu to take on the warlords, Abdi cheered the arrival of these Americans, who seemed as heroic as those of the movies.
Sporting American clothes and dance moves, he became known around Mogadishu as Abdi American, but when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it became dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches, which found an audience of worldwide listeners. Eventually, though, Abdi was forced to flee to Kenya.
In an amazing stroke of luck, Abdi won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America did not come easily. Parts of his story were first heard on the BBC World Service and This American Life. Now a proud resident of Maine, on the path to citizenship, Abdi Nor Iftin’s dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid reminder of why America still beckons to those looking to make a better life."—penguinrandomhouse.com
Join us to engage in this monthly book discussion presented in collaboration with the Clinton Human Rights Committee.
Books available at HCH Library. Please register to submit a request.
