CCW Bookies bring 1940s Harlem to life with Kevin Baker

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A novel has the power to take readers out of their own world and place them in someone else’s. On Wednesday, the Columbia College Women Bookies will present novelist and alumnus Kevin Baker, CC ’80, whose novel “Striver’s Row” depicts 1943 Harlem through the eyes of a young rebellious Malcolm X. The event will include a discussion of his novel and the world of 1940s Harlem.

“Striver’s Row” is a work of historical fiction that exposes its readers to the roots of the Civil Rights Movement. The novel follows Malcolm Little through Harlem and the rest of New York City as he transitions from disillusioned to inspired and becomes the person he is remembered as today.

When asked what his intention was for the novel, Baker replied that “‘Striver’s Row’ is really about the black migrant experience in New York in the 1940s.” Baker follows Malcolm Little through his friendship with Jonah Dove, a minister of a black church in Harlem, deepening the reader’s understanding of Malcolm’s unfolding story.

“The autobiography was fascinating,” Baker said in reference to “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” Baker explained that his primary source of research for the novel was the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Audience members should not expect a lecture, though. As event producer Shira Boss, CC ’93, explained, CCW Bookies is an extremely informal group composed of 75 Columbia College female alumnae who would like to “hold onto the discussion element from school that we all loved.”

“It’s just a way to keep up reading things we may not necessarily have picked up otherwise,” Boss added.

Baker’s discussion the first event by CCW Bookies open to the public, and members hope that the evening will remain a discourse rather than devolving into a lecture. They also hope that curious students come prepared to deliberate.

The group is enthusiastic about receiving Baker as a speaker for his novel. As Boss said, “Columbia is lucky to call Kevin its own ... only he or people like him can make you comfortable enough to argue about his characters in front of him.”

Time: Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Place: Columbia Alumni Center, 622 West 113th St. between Broadway and Riverside
Cost: Free