by Dr. Kelly Clark

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Available in print, e-book, and e-audiobook formats
Tue, Aug 12 | 7 – 8:30 pm
Register to receive link to online session: bit.ly/Required-Reading-ERCC

Required Reading: Texts for Change is a new quarterly book club for readers who care about equity, community, and meaningful conversation. It’s for anyone who’s curious, committed to learning, and ready to grow—no matter where you’re starting from.

Each season, our group gathers around a thought-provoking book that invites us to see the world—and one another—a little differently. These are texts that challenge assumptions, offer fresh perspectives, and help us think more deeply about equity in our lives, our work, and the communities we live in.
Howard County is a beautifully diverse place, home to people of many cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. And like many communities, we still face real challenges around access, opportunity, and belonging. Take advantage of the chance to slow down, reflect, and strengthen the ability to show up for one another with empathy and intention.

Read three nonfiction books throughout the year and one fiction title each summer—something lighter to make space for joy, imagination, and connection. Some of these books will stretch us. That’s the point. Growth happens when we’re willing to sit with complexity and listen deeply—to authors and to each other.

Our first title is Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, which is one of those books that subtly teaches you things about the world that you didn’t know – like the history of Chinese indentured servants in the Caribbean or that surfing isn’t the sole proprietary sport of blond dudes in California. Inspired by her own multi-ethnic Caribbean roots, author Charmaine Wilkerson manages to weave a history lesson seamlessly into a heart-tugging tale of family secrets.

Written in bite-sized chapters that move from past to present and back again, the story is woven together like grandma’s quilt. A little bit of love pinned here, a little bit of pain there. While the new ERCC book club will focus mostly on nonfiction titles, summers will be reserved for fictional getaways. Black Cake is the perfect inaugural book. Enough drama and intrigue to keep you hooked, while sharpening the mind and deepening the senses for of those committed to equity work in our own community.

Dr. Clark is the Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Officer at Howard County Library System.