The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library debuts a monthly Radical Reading Circle, led by IUPUI Professor of Education Lasana Kazembe. The Reading Circle is open to all and offers a space to discuss, exchange and explore critical and transformative ideas. It embraces the restless, fugitive intellect and creative witness of radical artists such as Kurt Vonnegut, Hannah Arendt, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, and countless others and embraces diplomacy, inquiry and promotes the spirit of critical, democratic engagement. During these critical times it is more important than ever to think, to probe, to question, to smile, and to hope.

The debut reading is the essay "Letter From a Region in My Mind" by Baldwin, a frequently banned author, and is equally poignant today as it was in the time it was written. You can read the essay here. It is also available in the book The Fire Next Time — click here to buy the book and support KVML.

This is a virtual event and you will receive access information shortly before the event. For the complete schedule of Banned Books Week Events, please visit vonnegutlibrary.org.

Lasana D. Kazembe is an Assistant Professor in IUPUI's School of Education (Dept. of Urban Teacher Education) and in the Africana Studies Program. He is a scholar of Urban Education, Global Black Arts Movements, and the Black Intellectual Tradition. His research interests intersect Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, the Arts and Arts-based Learning, and Social & Racial Justice in education. He has published numerous scholarly articles on education, race, culture, and history. A Poet and Spoken Word artist, Dr. Kazembe has performed at colleges and universities throughout the U.S., and venues in Canada, and Africa. As teaching artist, he has developed and facilitated creative writing programs within youth detention centers, prisons, community centers, K-12 schools, and other learning spaces. Dr. Kazembe's latest (edited) book, entitled Keeping Peace: Reflections on Life, Legacy, Commitment, and Struggle (2018), was published by Third World Press Foundation.