In honor of this year’s Memphis Reads book, join us for three viewings of films portraying themes discussed in Thick, and Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom, followed by a discussion. The Thick, and Other Essays ebook is freely available to UofM students, faculty and staff through the University Libraries. To read Thick, visit https://bit.ly/THICKebook.

The series will kick off on Tuesday, September 28, at 6 p.m. in the UC River Room with a viewing of The Souls of Black Girls. An award-winning provocative documentary, The Souls of Black Girls raises the question of whether women of color are suffering from a self-image disorder as a result of trying to attain the standards of beauty that are celebrated in media images. After the viewing, a panel of scholars will discuss the documentary’s topics and their relation to Thick, and Other Essays. The event will be in-person (masks required) and live streamed (additional livestream info TBA). This series is sponsored by the UofM African and African-American Studies, the Department of Sociology, the Marcus Orr Center for the Humanities, Multicultural Affairs, and the University Libraries.