The Pandemic Political Education book club meets on the third Wednesday of each month.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has falsely been declared over, health and disability justice remain and urgent need, especially as more pandemics are expected in our age of climate crisis.

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While many forms of community care are needed, this book club aims to provide a space for deepening our historical and political analysis of queer-informed health justice to empower communities in ongoing and future pandemics, while grounding in queer and disabled histories and wisdom.

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The reading list will include histories, memoirs, and analysis of the HIV-AIDS pandemic, foundational texts by queer disabled authors, and lenses on queer health justice.

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This book club is open to all, with the goal of centering queer and disabled experiences. You don't need to consider yourself an "activist" to join, though much of the discussion of the books will focus on specific lessons we can apply to today.

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Cost: This book club is free, but please consider bringing a contribution (sliding scale $1-5) for the meeting room reservation at Under the Umbrella. 

Contact: Amelia Diehl at amelia.diehl@gmail.com with any questions.

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COVID Precautions: Masks are required. An air purifier will be running throughout the event.

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Book Schedule

When possible, please support the store and the authors by purchasing a copy here! Most books should also be available at local libraries. One copy of each book is available for free to any BIPOC person interested in reading the book but unable or unwilling to pay for a copy.

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January 17, 2024 | Exile and Pride by Eli Clare

February 21 | Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York by Sarah Schulman
March 20 | The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics by Cathy Cohen

April 24 | It was Vulgar and it Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic by Jack Lowery

May 15 | The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs by Leah Laksmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

June 19 | The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven Thrasher

July 17 | Funeral Diva by Pamela Sneed

Aug 21 | Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong

Sept 19 | Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between by Joseph Osmundson

Oct 16 | Killing Us Quietly: Native Americans and HIV/AIDS by Irene S. Vernon

Nov 20 | The Care we Dream Of: Liberatory and Transformative Approaches to LGBTQ+ Health by Zena Sharman

December 18 | My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newsom