Brown 2026 Reads: Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children by Noliwe Rooks

Time:

2:00pm - 3:00pm EST

Sponsor:

Brown 2026

Location:

John Carter Brown Library

Room:

Conference Room

Brown University is observing the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States through “Brown 2026,” a campus-wide initiative to demonstrate the important role of research and teaching universities in fostering open and democratic societies. With support from the College, Brown 2026 facilitates student reading opportunities and supplies books, with author discussions to follow.

This event features the book Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children (Pantheon, March 2025). Award-winning scholar Noliwe Rooks weaves together sociological data, cultural history, and personal records to challenge the idea that integration was a boon for Black children. At once assiduously researched and deeply engaging, Integrated tells the story of how education has remained both a tool for community progress and a seemingly inscrutable cultural puzzle. Rooks’s deft hand turns the story of integration’s past and future on its head and shows how we may better understand and support generations of students to come.

For more information, including a full list of Brown 2026 Reads selections, visit https://brown2026democracy.brown.edu/research-teaching/brown-2026-reads.