Well-Read Black Girl Book Club chats FINDING ME *IN-PERSON*

This month's Well-Read Black Girl book club chats about Finding Me by Viola Davis, with Sarah @bookishandblack facilitating! This space is created to be a safe and centering space for Black Women readers. **This month's WRBG Book Club will take place in-person at Loyalty's Petworth location at 7 PM on Thursday, June 1st—please note the changed day and date!** RSVP using the form below to let us know you'll be joining us for this month's meeting!

ABOUT THE CLUB

The Well-Read Black Girl Book Club is a national book club started by Glory Edim that now has additional meetups hosted by Indie Bookstores around the US. This book club centers Black women, their stories, voices, and experiences. While everyone is welcome to attend, this space is created to be a safe and centering space for Black Women readers. The club reads a variety of genres, classics, new literature and nonfiction, and YA that covers the breadth of experience from the Black American and African diaspora. Loyalty's club often reads along with the national club recs and sometimes reads local area authors from Chocolate City. We often feature selections from the Well-Read Black Girl Anthology as well.

Our host is Sarah Coquillat, also known as the bookstagrammer @bookishandblack.

ABOUT THE BOOK

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • A HARPERS BAZAAR BEST BOOK OF 2022 • A PARADE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK • A MARIE CLAIRE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK

“It’s clear from the first page that Davis is going to serve a more intimate, unpolished account than is typical of the average (often ghost-written) celebrity memoir; Finding Me reads like Davis is sitting you down for a one-on-one conversation about her life, warts and all.”—USA Today

“[A] fulfilling narrative of struggle and success….Her gorgeous storytelling will inspire anyone wishing to shed old labels.”—Los Angeles Times

In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever.

This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.

As I wrote Finding Me, my eyes were open to the truth of how our stories are often not given close examination. We are forced to reinvent them to fit into a crazy, competitive, judgmental world. So I wrote this for anyone running through life untethered, desperate and clawing their way through murky memories, trying to get to some form of self-love. For anyone who needs reminding that a life worth living can only be born from radical honesty and the courage to shed facades and be . . . you.

Finding Me is a deep reflection, a promise, and a love letter of sorts to self. My hope is that my story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Viola Davis is an internationally acclaimed actress and producer, known for her exceptional performances in television shows like 'How to Get Away with Murder' and movies like 'Fences' and 'The Help.' She is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, and in 2021 she won a Screen Actors Guild award for her role in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'. In both 2012 and 2017, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Davis is also the founder and CEO of JuVee Productions, an artist driven production company that develops and produces independent film, theater, television, and digital content.

ABOUT THE HOST

Sarah Coquillat is the bookworm behind Bookish and Black. A health policy researcher by day, she created Bookish and Black to engage with other readers and encourage literary discussion. Sarah is passionate about social justice and reading BIPOC authors.

Please note Loyalty has a zero tolerance policy for harassment or intimidation of any kind during our virtual and in-person events.