“Citizen throws a Molotov cocktail at the notion that reduction of injustice is the same as freedom.”
—The New York Times Book Review
Claudia Rankine‘s Citizen uses a poetic frame to uncover an insidious racism embedded in the everyday, from Main Street USA to the lecture halls of the Ivory Tower. An offhand comment or a helpful call from a neighbor can carry ominous weight, as Rankine’s observations move from bewilderment to disappointment to quiet ire. Citizen is a true revelation—it leaves its readers unsettled, moved, and changed with every page.
This program is presented in partnership with the Scripps College Humanities Institute and the Alexa Fullterton Hampton ’42 Endowed Speaker Fund.