Simone A. James Alexander, director of Africana studies at Lehigh University, founded the Africana Inaugural Book Club to counter book bans and create a space for students, faculty and staff to engage with Africana literature. The club meets each semester to discuss works by visiting authors and scholars.
Amid growing efforts to remove African American and African diaspora literature from classrooms at schools and universities worldwide, Simone A. James Alexander has taken a stand.
As the director of Africana studies at Lehigh, Alexander said she felt compelled to respond to book bans by advocating for diverse literature that reflects the experiences and resilience of Black communities. She also aims to expand the Africana studies department and bring important books back into the classroom.
“My goal, in many ways, is to bring back these books as a way to resist that movement that’s attempting to completely erase them,” she said.
Her initiative, the Africana Inaugural Book Club, held its first meeting last semester.