Book Launch for Seven Sisters and a Brother—Untold Truths Behind Black Student Activism in the 1960s 

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Four of the eight authors of the newly released book Seven Sisters and a Brother: Untold Truths Behind Black Student Activism in the 1960s will be in conversation on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, at the 92nd Street Y (1395 Lexington Avenue, New York City) at 7pm. Authors Marilyn Allman Maye, Harold S. Buchanan, Jannette O. Domingo, and Marilyn Holifield will discuss their experiences in the 1960s as activists at an elite liberal arts college, in a spirited discussion moderated by New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning opinion editor, Brent Staples. The book takes you on a journey through their inspiring group narrative, which includes the peaceful eight-day sit-in they organized at Swarthmore College in 1969. 

Since their years at the College, the authors have continued their love of learning and have served in leadership roles bringing the same pioneering spirit of their years at Swarthmore, where they co-founded the Swarthmore Afro American Student Society(SASS). Included among them is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate and four graduates who were among the first to complete a Black Studies concentration at Swarthmore College. All eight authors completed advanced degrees at prestigious universities, earning eleven masters and six doctoral degrees from Columbia, Harvard, McGill, Temple, Tufts, and the University of Massachusetts Boston. They represent an array of fields: a medical doctor, a lawyer, a biologist, four educational leaders, and a computer scientist. 

Staying true to their spirit of making a difference, they will donate their share of the proceeds from the sale of the book to support study, research, and celebration of black history and culture at Swarthmore, and to support the Swarthmore Black Alumni Network Endowment Fund (SBAN). The SBAN Endowment will support student internships in collaboration with the Eugene Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility.

What people are saying about the book…-Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has called Seven Sisters and a Brother “compelling portraits of the lives of the young people who risked their futures to make a difference.”

-Dr. Johnnetta Cole, President Emerita at Spelman College and Bennett College, former director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art “Anyone who cares about the course of higher education in America should read this book. It tells the important and moving story of how Seven Sisters and a Brother changed the course of history and herstory at Swarthmore College and contributed to bringing a greater presence of Black people and Black Studies to the academy.”

About the Book Seven Sisters and a Brother-Friendship, Resistance, and Untold Truths Behind Black Activism in the 1960s 

Written by: Marilyn Allman Maye, Harold S. Buchanan, Jannette O. Domingo, Joyce Frisby Baynes, Marilyn Holifield, Myra E. Rose, Bridget Van Gronigen Warren, and Aundrea White Kelley 

Wrote the publisher: “In 1969, eight college students at an elite college risked it all. Amidst the historic Civil Rights Movement, they watched enrollment of Black students at their college decline, hiring of Black professors and administrators remain at a standstill, and their demands for a Black Studies curriculum go unnoticed. Seven Sisters and a Brother not only tells the story of the subsequent and historic eight-day sit-in and its immediate aftermath, but it also highlights its enduring effects. This compelling “choral memoir” adds a new chapter to American history and is a crucial guide for a new generation of activists looking to make a difference.

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