#BlackLivesMatter: Two Remarkable Writers on Being Black in America

Arlington Reads 2015 presented two extraordinary young writers who spoke to the layers of acceptance that can create community or deny it.

Arlington Public Library’s annual one-theme, one-community reading initiative focuses on the concept of race in America as seen through the works of Jesmyn Ward and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, one born in the United States and the other who still calls Africa home.

Following news headlines from Ferguson, Mo., New York, Cleveland and other cities in 2014, the social media hashtag “#Blacklivesmatter” was named Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society.

• Wednesday, April 8, 2015 – Jesmyn Ward spoke at Central Library
• Thursday, May 7, 2015 – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke at Central Library