The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice by Scott Ellsworth has been selected as UNC Charlotte’s Common Reading Experience text for fall 2022:
“Over the course of less than twenty-four hours in the spring of 1921, Tulsa’s infamous “Black Wall Street” was wiped off the map—and erased from the history books. Official records were disappeared, researchers were threatened, and the worst single incident of racial violence in American history was kept hidden for more than fifty years. But there were some secrets that would not die.
A riveting and essential new book, The Ground Breaking not only tells the long-suppressed story of the notorious Tulsa race massacre. It also unearths the lost history of how the massacre was covered up, and of the courageous individuals who fought to keep the story alive. Most important, it recounts the ongoing archeological saga and the search for the unmarked graves of the victims of the massacre, and of the fight to win restitution for the survivors and their families.” (source: Penguin Random House)
We are excited to see this text adopted in courses that teach both first-year and continuing students. In addition to the author’s visit (date TBD), there will be discussion groups and activities planned through the fall term to build upon the book’s themes. Please watch this space for those announcements to come!
Former Common Reading Selections
| 2021 | The 57 Bus, by Dashka Slater |
|---|---|
| 2020 | The 57 Bus, by Dashka Slater |
| 2019 | Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, by Joshua Davis |
| 2018 | Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah |
| 2017 | The Book of Unknown Americans, by Cristina Henriquez |
| 2016 | Find Me Unafraid, by Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner |
| 2015 | The Postmortal, by Drew Magary |
| 2014 | The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers |
| 2013 | Wine to Water: A Bartender’s Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World, by Doc Hendley |
| 2012 | Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference, by Warren St. John |
| 2011 | How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America, by Moustafa Bayoumi |
| 2010 | The Blue Sweater, by Jacqueline Novogratz |
| 2009 | Listening is an Act of Love, by Dave Isay |
| 2008 | Enrique's Journey, by Sonia Nazario |
| 2007 | The Color of Water, by James McBride |