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The Elephant We Don't See: A Diversity Dialogue "There, There" by Tommy Orange

Co-presented with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights

Prince George's County Office of Human Rights and PGCMLS present "The Elephant We Don't See A Diversity Dialogue" every last Tuesday of the month. OHR and PGCMLS staff discuss equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism with books as a launch point. This Diversity Dialogue kicks off our celebration of Native American and Indigenous Persons Heritage Month with Tommy Orange's book, "There There."

Tommy Orange’s "There There" is a “wondrous and shattering award-winning novel that follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize.”

Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. They converge and collide on one fateful day at the Big Oakland Powwow and together this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism

The New York Times describes it as a book with “so much jangling energy and brings so much news from a distinct corner of American life that it’s a revelation.”

"There There" is this year’s One Maryland One Book selection. Join us for this month’s Diversity Dialogue, leading into Native American Heritage Month and aligning with the One Maryland One Book Maryland-wide read.  

Borrow the book from PGCMLS:   eBook | Audiobook