The election and inauguration of Donald Trump is leading to profound changes in a wide range of areas. To keep our community informed and engaged, Politics and Prose has launched a series of teach-ins, the first of which on January 8 focused on the issue of civil liberties. For these P&P events, which will continue through 2017 and beyond, panels of experts lead discussions of relevant and urgent issues, including women’s rights, immigration, climate change and more. The aim is not just to inform and educate but also to offer constructive and effective paths forward.

Much as teach-ins became a vital tool for public advocacy and social justice efforts during the 1960s, we believe they can serve the same purpose today. The bookstore is organizing them in the spirit that has guided P&P over the past three decades—as a place committed to strengthening our community by providing an open forum for rigorous, respectful dialogue on the challenges that America faces. In addition to the teach-ins, we also will continue our series, Race in America Today, launched in 2015.

Our next teach-in, focusing on gun control, will be held on Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 5pm, and will feature Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign; Zion Kelly, gun control activist and March For Our Lives speaker; and Craig Whitney, journalist and author of Living with Guns: A Liberal’s Case for the Second Amendment. Learn more here.

 

If you are unable to attend in person, you can still watch the event on Facebook Live, and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #TeachIn. We hope to see you at these discussions about the future of our country, as we explore what we can do together to safeguard our democratic values and institutions in these politically divisive and uncertain times.