Racial profiling focus of 2021 Washtenaw Reads book
Meredith Bruckner, Community News Producer, All About Ann Arbor
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ANN ARBOR – The Washtenaw Reads program is an initiative by local public libraries to encourage reading and civic dialogue.
Launched by the University of Michigan Life Sciences, Values and Society Program in 2003, the project aims to promote a shared experience and community discussion across a variety of topics.
One book is selected each year and participating libraries include Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Dexter, Milan, Salem-South Lyon, Saline and Ypsilanti.
This year’s Washtenaw Read is “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. A timely choice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, the book centers around an event in which teenager Rashad is profiled by a white cop, Paul Galluzzo, who begins to brutally punch the boy after mistaking him for a shoplifter. As the violence unfolds, Rashad’s friend Quinn Collins who was ra