Joseph G Blake
I have otherwise mentioned this book on here but it comes out August 22.
It is called Dreamtown, Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equality.
The author is Laura Meckler who is a writer at the Washington Post. She graduated from the high school mid 1980s. She has written about Shaker in her WP column in 2019. I was lucky enough to help her with research about Shaker Heights and its development under the Vans and some related topics.
For those living in Cleveland there will be several events about the book in late August.
- Mark your calendars for an upcoming event:
-Aug. 22: Launch event at Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights, in conversation with Mark Joseph, 7 p.m.
-Aug. 26: Book talk at the Shaker Heights Public Library, in conversation with Paul Mason, 2 p.m. This event can be watched on line. You can register at the library web site after July 29.
-Aug. 30: Book talk at Politics and Prose, Connecticut Avenue location in DC, 7 p.m.
-Sept. 13: NPC Headliners Book Event, National Press Club, Washington, 6:30 p.m.
Here is a book review.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/laura-meckler/dream-town-shaker-heights/
The Publisher Henry Holt, describes DREAM TOWN:
In this searing and intimate examination of the ideals and realities of racial integration, award-winning Washington Post journalist Laura Meckler tells the story of a decades-long pursuit in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and uncovers the roadblocks that have threatened progress time and again—in housing, in education, and in the promise of shared community.
In the late 1950s, Shaker Heights began groundbreaking work that would make it a national model for housing integration. And beginning in the seventies, it was known as a crown jewel in the national move to racially integrate schools. The school district built a reputation for academic excellence and diversity, serving as a model for how white and Black Americans can thrive together. Meckler—herself a product of Shaker Heights—takes a deeper look into the place that shaped her, investigating its complicated history and its ongoing challenges in order to untangle myth from truth. She confronts an enduring, and troubling, question—if Shaker Heights has worked so hard at racial equity, why does a racial academic achievement gap persist? In telling the stories of the Shakerites who have built and lived in this community, Meckler asks: What will it take to fulfill the promise of racial integration in America? What compromises are people of all races willing to make? What does success look like, and has Shaker achieved it?
The result is a complex and masterfully reported portrait of a place that, while never perfect, has achieved more than most and a road map for communities that seek to do the same.
Read it and we can disucss it here and at the reunuion next year. Maybe we can get Laura to come and tell us more about it.
Thanks
Joe
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