The Nevins Library is proud to partner with seven local libraries to present a variety of virtual programs addressing topics related to social justice issues.

These thought-provoking lectures and discussions will help Merrimack Valley residents (and beyond) to think about and cordially address current events and troubling issues in today’s society. Patrons are welcome to sign up for any of these programs, no matter which community you live in (or if you live in none of the communities), anyone and everyone is welcome (you can sign up through the links on this page, or go to the individual libraries’ pages to sign up).

Partner Libraries: Andover, Burlington, Chelmsford, Groton, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Newton, North Andover, North Reading, Tewksbury, Westford, and Wilmington.

Upcoming events at other libraries:

Wednesday, Jun 16 @ 7pm – Alice’s Ordinary People: A conversation with filmmaker Craig Dudnick

Please join us online for this special presentation with Craig Dudnick, maker of the film Alice’s Ordinary People.

Alice’s life story reads like a history of the movement. Early on she fought the “Willis Wagons.” The second class structures were built to relieve overcrowding in those Chicago schools which served the African American community. Their very existence perpetuated segregation.

Wednesday, June 16 @ 7PM – Ask Us Anything! A Panel with SpeakOUT Boston

Join us for a panel featuring speakers from SpeakOUT Boston, the nation’s oldest LGBTQIA speakers bureau. The speakers will share their stories and speak about their experiences as LGBTQIA folks, then the floor will open up for Q&A. Ellyn Ruthstrom, Executive Director of SpeakOUT Boston, will moderate. SpeakOUT’s motto is “Ask Us Anything,” so feel free to bring your questions!

Thursday, June 17 @ 7PM – A Lecture by Dr. Keith Mitchell on Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Dr. Keith Mitchell is a professor of Literature at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He received his Undergraduate Degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and his Ph. D. in comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. His research interests include 19th, 20th, and 21st century African American literature and culture; 20th and 21st century Anglophone and Francophone Caribbean literature; 19th, 20th, and 21st century American literature; Postcolonial literature and World Literature.

Thursday, June 17 @ 7PM – Connecting Cultures Through the Art of Storytelling with Len Cabral

As part of the Kick Off to our Tales and Tails Summer Reading Program for adults, storyteller Len Cabral will share his unique tales in an entertaining evening for all!

Len Cabral is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning storyteller and author who has been engaging audiences young and old for more than four decades.

Thursday, June 24 @ 7PM – Why Are LGBTQ+ Historical Figures Missing From Our School’s Curriculum? – SoJust Speaker Series

The time to unerase history is now! If you were to look only at US history textbooks, you wouldn’t know LGBTQ+ people helped build our nation. And that’s a problem.

History UnErased (HUE) is solving that problem by putting LGBTQ+ history in its rightful place–the classroom–with our groundbreaking Intersections and Connections digital curriculum for K-12 schools.”

Monday, June 28 @ 7pm – A Virtual Evening with Nate Marshall – Writer, Rapper & Educator

Please join us for a reading by writer, rapper and educator Nate Marshall from his recent collection, Finna (2020).

“Definition of finna, created by the author: fin·na /ˈfinə/ contraction: (1) going to; intending to [rooted in African American Vernacular English] (2) eye dialect spelling of “fixing to” (3) Black possibility; Black futurity; Blackness as tomorrow

These poems consider the brevity and disposability of Black lives and other oppressed people in our current era of emboldened white supremacy, and the use of the Black vernacular in America’s vast reserve of racial and gendered epithets. Finna explores the erasure of peoples in the American narrative; asks how gendered language can provoke violence; and finally, how the Black vernacular, expands our notions of possibility, giving us a new language of hope.