by Zach Miller
Quick Summary
“We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World,” edited by Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura, is the 9th selection by Minnesota's statewide book club, One Book | One Minnesota. The book is a collection of essays, poems, and verse from Minneapolis writers of color, exploring their experiences with family, economic insecurity, racism, and the tumultuous events of 2020. The book is now available statewide on Ebooks Minnesota.
One Book | One Minnesota invites Minnesotans of all ages to read a common title and come together for reflection and dialogue. For it's ninth edition, the club has selected "We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World," edited by Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura. Publishers Weekly calls the collection of 36 essays, poems, and verse "a powerful and passionate take on a fraught moment."
The statewide book club gets a significant boost from Ebooks Minnesota's participation. Through Ebooks Minnesota, readers across the state can access "We Are Meant to Rise" online without having to log in with a username or password. With Ebooks Minnesota, your presence within Minnesota's borders is your credential. Even better, Ebooks Minnesota's unlimited simultaneous use model makes the book available to each and every Minnesotan who wants to participate, with no waiting and no limit. The book will be available on Ebooks Minnesota (and at your local library) through December 7.
Book club participants are encouraged to consult the Reading and Discussion Guide provided by University of Minnesota Press. A discussion with the editors will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 7. The event is free and open to the public, and registration is required.
About "We Are Meant to Rise"
In this collection, Indigenous writers and writers of color bear witness to one of the most unsettling years in the history of the United States. Essays and poems vividly reflect and comment on the traumas we endured in 2020, beginning with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, deepened by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and the uprisings that made Minneapolis the epicenter of worldwide demands for justice. In inspired and incisive writing, these contributors speak unvarnished truths about the racism threaded through American life but also about their personal experience in essays about family, loss, food culture, economic security, and mental health.
ABOUT ONE BOOK | ONE MINNESOTA
One Book | One Minnesota is presented by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, as the Minnesota Center for the Book, in partnership with State Library Services and sponsored by SPIRE Credit Union. Program partners also include Council of Regional Public Library System Administrators; Mackin VIA; Minitex; the Minnesota Department of Education; Recorded Books; and Simon & Schuster. This program is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, as well as through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Links to resources and more information can be found on the program website.
