panel discussion | One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern

Dr. Sheila Lloyd, Assistant Professor of English at University of Redlands, speaks to Mark Olsen's English class at Independence High School, which is reading "The Other Wes Moore" using high school curriculum developed in partnership with CSU Bakersfield as part of One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern.

Hi All – What happens when a community comes together to discuss the strong themes of one great book? Isn’t it time you saw first hand what effect this Read is having in our community?

Here’s your next opportunity to find out! Saturday, Oct. 22; 11 a.m., 2nd Floor Founders Mt. Room – The Legacy of Friendship House. For over five decades, the Friendship House on Cottonwood Road has inspired and mentored families of Southeast Bakersfield. Friendship House pioneer Fuchsia Ward, will tell the story of the founding of the Friendship House against the backdrop of an era of exciting political change. Please support Fuchsia in telling the story of one of our community’s great mentoring resources by your attendance.

Program treats you may have missed:

Moore or Less: You Get What You Give – An evening of dramatic readings. Approximately 32 folks enjoyed great art, wine, conversation, and terrific excerpts from The Other Wes Moore given by Empty Space and Bakersfield Community Theatre actors. A winning combination!

Winning our Future and Life Choices panel discussions on Oct. 15 and 18 – If there is a better way to present the themes of a great book than a panel discussion, it is hard to say what it would be. Thanks to Harlem and Beyond for creating the Winning our Future panel, which cleverly chose community members – parents, grandparents, single mothers, ex-gang members, teachers, military boot camp personnel, all who reflected characters in Wes Moore’s memoir. (50 people attending) The Life Choices panel at Bakersfield College, sponsored by Safe Streets Partnership and coordinated by One Book community partner, Bakersfield Police Department Sgt. Mary DeGeare, featured memorable, heartfelt life stories from local ex-gang members as well as longtime youth mentors. (over 100 attending)

We’re in the home stretch for our The Other Wes Moore programming. Make it your business to attend one of remaining programs, so you can put our Nov. 8 Evening with Wes Moore, in a local context.

– Kristie Coons, Coordinator of One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern

Children's First Town Hall Meeting at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Oct. 6.

We have begun October programming with two great events:

Oct. 4 – How One Decision Changed My Life, Russo’s Books
Thomas Robinson led the conversation with about 20 attendees, including members of the public as well as Mark Olsen’s Independence High School English class, which is reading “The Other Wes Moore.” The kids were reluctant to share their life-changing decisions at first, but Thomas began with his own junior high decision to leave a group of “friends” who definitely did not have his best interests at heart; his personal and easy-to-relate-to story struck a chord with the students particularly, and decisions both heartening and heartbreaking followed.
Oct. 6 – Solutions for our Children’s Futures, Children First’s Town Hall Meeting, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church
It was an intriguing idea to relate the themes of “The Other Wes Moore” directly to the lives of Bakersfield City School District’s children, and Mt. Zion hosted a packed house of community members, agency/nonprofit heads and elected officials. The power point presentation given by Emerson Middle School principal Kempton Coman was particularly effective, highlighting the crucial roles of the community partners which support Emerson. This statement Kempton made really stood out for me thinking about the lives of the two Wes Moores and the futures of children locally. “Aspirations without opportunities mean nothing.”

Children First Director Andrae Gonzales comments on the evening: “With over 67 leaders from various community-based organizations, government agencies, businesses, and neighborhoods, and over 100 community members in attendance, the Children First campaign began an important community conversation about solutions for our children! Thank you so much for making the Children First Town Hall meeting a great success. One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern would like you to know that you can continue the community conversation about “The Other Wes Moore” on its website at http://onebookonebakersfieldonekern.com.

Upcoming event too good to miss!
Tuesday, Oct. 11-6pm – Dramatic readings from the book, given by local actors in the beautiful setting of the Bakersfield Museum of Art and David Gordon promises libations at the informal mixer prior to the readings!

– Kristie Coons, Coordinator of One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern

One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern

Join us for our Fall 2012 read of "The House on Mango Street."

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Next up: Legacy of Friendship House

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