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400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

An “intimate and searching” (Natasha Trethewey, New York Times–bestselling author of Memorial Drive) memoir of family, color, and being Black, white, and other in America, from “one of our country’s greatest historians” (Clint Smith, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of How the Word is Passed)

 

Martha S. Jones grew up feeling her Black identity was obvious to all who saw her. But weeks into college, a Black Studies classmate challenged Jones’s right to speak. Suspicious of the color of her skin and the texture of her hair, he confronted her with a question that inspired a lifetime of introspection: “Who do you think you are?”

 

Now a prizewinning scholar of Black history, Jones delves into her family’s past for answers. In every generation since her great-great-great-grandmother survived enslavement to raise a free family, color determined her ancestors’ lives. But the color line was shifting and jagged, not fixed and straight. Some backed away from it, others skipped along it, and others still were cut deep by its sharp teeth. 

 

Journeying across centuries, from rural Kentucky and small-town North Carolina to New York City and its suburbs, The Trouble of Color is a lyrical, deeply felt meditation on the most fundamental matters of identity, belonging, and family.

 

Martha Jones will be joined in conversation by Juana Summers, co-host of NPR's All Things Considered

 

About the Author:

Martha Jones is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, professor of history, and a professor at the SNF Agora Institute at the Johns Hopkins University. A prizewinning author and editor of four books, most recently Vanguard, she is past copresident of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians and has contributed to the New York Times, Atlantic, and many other publications. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

About the Moderator: 

Juana Summers is a co-host of NPR's All Things Considered, alongside Ailsa Chang, Ari Shapiro and Mary Louise Kelly. She joined All Things Considered in June 2022.  Summers previously spent more than a decade covering national politics, most recently as NPR's political correspondent covering race, justice and politics. She covered the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and has also previously covered Congress for NPR. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications across multiple platforms, including Politico, CNN, Mashable and The Associated Press. In 2016, Summers was a fellow at the Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service.

 

About the Program:

  • To attend in person please register here.
  • Doors will open to registered attendees at 6 pm. 
  • A local bookseller will be on-site and have books available for purchase.
  • Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) after 4pm.  Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program. 
  • This free event will be presented in-person and virtually. 

There is no registration required for virtual attendance, simply visit the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Facebook or Youtube page.