Back in 1961, during the dark days of Jim Crow when local African-Americans had to stage read-ins to get to the books in the public library, it would have been hard to imagine the entire city of Jackson reading the same book. Not only that, but reading the same book by an African-American man. A book about the trial of a young black man in Louisiana facing the electric chair for killing a white shopkeeper. During the botched robbery in “A Lesson Before Dying,” the young man was not armed, and he had not pulled the trigger (sound eerily like a recent Mississippi death-penalty case?). This is still a difficult topic; in the 1960s it would have been near forbidden.
Thankfully, in many ways, the times have changed. The Jackson Friends of the Library have pulled together “One Jackson, One Book,” an ambitious plan to get as many Jacksonians as possible to read Earnest J. Gaines’ novel, which is entertaining, yet complex. The project, which kicked off April 9, will last for six months, during which time many events will be staged around the book: club presentations, information discussions at churches, teacher workshops and public discussion groups, among them. “One Jackson, One Book” will culminate in October with a slate of public events, hopefully including an appearance by the somewhat reclusive African-American author.
Gaines, born Jan. 15, 1933, into Louisiana plantation country, didn’t visit a public library until he was 16. There he discovered great literature: Turgenev, Gogol, Flaubert, Zola. “But,” he has said in a statement, “no one was telling me the story of my people. Thus, a teenager, I decided to write.” He would later study at Stanford University; “A Lesson Before Dying” would be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
The Jackson project is based on similar efforts in other cities, first launched in Seattle, Wash., by the Washington Center for the Book. In the last five years, 132 communities in 41 states and the District of Columbia have developed similar one-book campaigns.
The book will be available over upcoming months, with many copies of both the book and the book-on-tape ordered for public libraries, and extra copies at area bookstores. No need to stage a read-in this time around.
The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.
