Black Studies Book Club: Folktales and Mythology

This book club is centered on the literary traditions of the Black diaspora’s folktales and mythologies. These literary traditions contribute to the area of education that is Black Studies. Long before the widely used systems of writing and computing began, stories and mythologies were passed down through oral tradition, these stories took on larger-than-life adaptations and were also used as an archival system of historical records. Today, these literary traditions are now immortalized in books by folklorists like Chinua Achebe, Virginia Hamilton, and Zora Neale Hurston; whose aim is to pass down these traditions by teaching the incoming generations. The Folktales and Mythology cohort of the Black Studies Book Club will be a monthly book club meeting virtually every second Saturday of the month to explore, engage, and discuss books from and relating to this tradition. Please email any inquiries to palisadeslibrary@dc.gov