Starting the Next Chapter

A neighbor’s multicultural book club is multiplying to confront social issues across Dallas

OAK CLIFF NEIGHBOR PAM FIELDS worked for years to engage communities in crosscultural understanding through her nonprofit. But the fight against racism can be exhausting, and she needed an outlet to share her struggles without the burden of leadership.

She found the allies she needed in the Multicultural Women’s Book Group.

Shannon Cerise of Oak Cliff and Jean McAulay of East Dallas started the group in 2017 after attending the Questions of Color panel hosted by The Dallas Morning News following the sniper killing of five police officers at a Black Lives Matter march in 2016. After hearing people of color share their experiences at the event, they sat in the parking lot thinking, “We lead such segregated lives.”

They wanted to continue the conversation. As members of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, where the panel discussion occurred, they used the organization’s email list and social media channels to recruit new members throughout Dallas.

The book group is open to anyone, regardless of race, age, religion or sexual orientation, but membership is restricted to women.

“We don’t have anything against men, but we feel women, most often, are the community builders,” McAulay says. “They forge relationships with neighbors.”

Each meeting begins with an icebreaker, followed by a poem and book discussion. They started with “American Dervish,” which tells the story of a Pakistani-American boy who struggles with his identity and religion while growing up in the Midwest.

Other books have delved into race, white privilege, immigration and politics, which starts conversation about difficult social issues. The first discussion of Robin DiAngelo’s book “White Fragility” was so contentious that members had to pause and regroup for a second discussion later.

Ground rules for respectful participation keep most meetings civil. Members are asked to “practice the pause” if the conversation becomes tense or emotional and to assume the best in each other. If someone says something insensitive, members are encouraged to teach without reprimanding.

Discussing books isn’t the sole purpose of the group. It was never meant to be an intellectual pursuit, McAulay says. It’s about building relationships that create real community change. Members meet regularly outside of book club to go bowling or attend lectures.

“The more cross-cultural relationships we build, the better we understand, the more our hearts and minds are transformed and we can be advocates for each other,” Fields says.

Membership is kept small. When women want to join, Cerise and McAulay help them establish their own book groups. A second chapter that meets at Southern Methodist University formed about a year ago, and a third chapter started in Lakewood in August.

Interest in the Multicultural Women’s Book Group grew after Black Lives Matter protesting ramped up in late May.

“Especially among white women, we saw a strong interest in learning more,” McAulay says. “We can be amazingly clueless on issues of race and the experiences of people of color in whitedominant culture. The protests and the

• Homegoing

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

• Retablos: Stories from a Life Lived Along the Border

• First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

• The Accommodation: The Politics of Race in an American City

• Your House Will Pay

• Hidden Wound

• American Spy

• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World and Become a Good Ancestor

• Educated

• Boy, Snow, Bird

• Secrets of the Casa Rosada

• Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing

• Just Mercy

• Maid murder of George Floyd brought that to the fore. The next step is, ‘How do I make this better?’”

Everyone in the group participates by volunteering to bring snacks, select the books or lead discussion. They focus on listening and learning from personal experiences, not trying to change opinions. Engaging in the experiences of others is the best way to recognize personal biases and advocate for systemic change, members say.

The women put their money where their mouths are. After reading “Just Mercy,” the story of a lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative to defend the unjustly accused, they collected money and sent a donation to the organization.

“I’m developing muscles about how to talk about race, not just understand it,” Cerise says. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be easy, but I’m finding words and language to go along with it.