Busboys and Poets Books Presents COUSINS
Date and Time
Nov 18, 2021 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Nov 18, 2021 6:00 pm
14th & V
In COUSINS we find out what happens when a White woman, Phoebe, contacts a Black woman, Betty, saying she suspects they are connected through slavery. Betty and Phoebe take us through the emotional journey of discovering their past and through it, each other. From the age of 13, the fight for racial equality was a centre point in Betty’s life. She was one of 22 African- American children seeking the right to attend the whites-only schools through a lawsuit filed by the NAACP against the school district of Warren County, Virginia. By contrast, Phoebe grew up in an all white school with a racist father, tasked with the responsibility of unlearning his attitudes and ideals outside of her home. COUSINS delves into the dramatic lives of both women, from Betty’s experience desegregating her county to Phoebe’s eventual question to Betty: “How do I begin to repair the harms?”
Piercingly honest, COUSINS offers examples of reparation on a personal level through the story of two women’s lives coming together. This event is free and open to all, either in person or accessible through our Facebook and Youtube pages (@busboysandpoets).
Please RSVP if you are joining us in person or are interested in purchasing a signed book with shipping (limited to those tuning in via livestream)
The program will begin at 5:30 PM with a half hour of socializing and time to settle into your seats before an introduction from Busboys and Poets Books Director of Operations, Lori Barrientos Sanchez. There will be time for Q&A with the audience before the end of the program, as well as the opportunity to purchase a copy of COUSINS for the editors and contributors to sign the night of!
Praise for COUSINS:
U.S. Senator Tim Kaine writes, "I'm very excited about this remarkable book. I hope the experiences of Betty and Phoebe will inspire others to sit down at the table of sisterhood and brotherhood to promote racial healing."
Edward L. Ayers, Professor of Humanities, President Emeritus, University of Richmond says: “This powerful book weaves together the eloquent stories of two impressive women—stories of survival, determination, and awakening, of honesty, spirituality, and success. They give us a detective story and a mystery, a reconciliation and a celebration. A reader will be grateful for all of them.”
Danita Rountree Green, trauma healing facilitator and playwright, Richmond, VA: “How marvelous that, in this time of endless separation, two people came together across so many barriers to build new bridges for healing old wounds. This memoir is a testimony to the power of forgiveness and a tribute to how truth can set us free.”
Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winner: "I highly recommend this amazing story of racial reconciliation."
COUSINS: CONNECTED THROUGH SLAVERY, A BLACK WOMAN AND WHITE WOMAN DISCOVER THEIR PAST AND EACH OTHER - What happens when a White woman, Phoebe, contacts a Black woman, Betty, saying she suspects they are connected through slavery? First surprise? Betty responds, "Hello, Cousin." Betty had fought for an education and won. She broke through the concrete ceiling in the workplace and succeeded. A documentary of her life was about to debut. Without thinking, she invites Phoebe to a family dinner and the premiere of the documentary. Second surprise? She forgot to tell her family who was coming to dinner. Betty finds an activist partner in Phoebe. Cousins indeed, they commit to a path of reconciliation. In alternating chapters, each tells her dramatic story--from Betty's experience as one of the first Black children to attend her desegregated school, to Phoebe's eventual question to Betty: "How do I begin to repair the harms?" Piercingly honest. Includes a working reparations project which the two women conceived together.
Dr. Betty Kilby Fisher Baldwin grew up in rural Culpeper and Warren counties, Virginia. She was a pioneer in school desegregation. Thanks to her father’s determination, she entered and graduated from Warren County High School after suing the school board, based on the landmark Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954. Betty started her employment as a factory worker and climbed the corporate ladder to achieve executive management employment. Betty holds a BA in Business Management from Shenandoah University, an MBA from Nova University, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Shenandoah University. After she retired, she wrote and published her autobiography, Wit, Will & Walls. Betty speaks frequently with Phoebe about making connections across the racial divide to create a more just and peaceful world.
Phoebe Kilby grew up in Baltimore, MD. After obtaining a BS in Botany and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Duke University, she had a long career as an urban and environmental planner. With concerns about the morality and wisdom of war, Phoebe went back to school in 2003 to obtain a degree in Conflict Transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University. A descendant of enslavers, Phoebe was inspired by the Coming to the Table movement to connect with descendants of persons her family enslaved. She is dedicated to helping others, European Americans and African Americans together, to uncover and explore the truths of their experiences and move toward racial reconciliation.
