Recent Locations
Mature Level: Machine-set Level 1
This event has been marked mature level 1 due to the following, "sexual".
Civil Rights Activist Jo Ivester at Books & Books in Miami
Civil Rights Activist Jo Ivester at Books & Books
The Outskirts of Hope, Stories of the 1960s Mississippi Delta and Race Relations Today In 1967 when Jo was 10 years old, her father moved their family to an all-black town in the Mississippi Delta, where they were one of only two white families and the only Jewish one. There, her father started a medical clinic, her mother taught at the local high school, and Jo was the only white student at her junior high. Living in a trailer in the poorest county in the nation during the turbulent 1960s, they were drawn into the heart of the civil rights movement. Because of this experience, Jo is committed to advocating for equal rights for all. Her award-winning memoir about her family’s time in Mississippi, The Outskirts of Hope (She Writes Press, April 2015), has led to numerous speaking engagements about racial relations. In the last few years, Jo has broadened her focus to raise awareness about the transgender community. Inspired by her transgender son, she is now working on her second book, Once a Girl, Always a Boy. Through this and her speaking engagements, Jo shares the story of what is was like for her son to grow up in a world not quite ready for people like him. Ivester addresses a wide range of audiences, from small book clubs to entire schools, using her personal stories as a means to make people more comfortable with those who are different from them with regard to race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identification.
Categories: Literary & Books
