Our last Books N Cooks club meeting took place at Spenker Winery. What a lovely morning that was. Our friend Sarah Spenker, who was one of the Directors of Mama Mia that myself and Dee Dee performed in, has a family vineyard and dairy in Lodi, Ca. Our club member Jeanine hosted. Thanks Jeanine.
Our latest book was Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Ms. Wilkerson argues that the current social and political landscapes in America derive from the infrastructure of human hierarchy developed 400 years ago when Europeans first came to this land. The hierachy placing whites at the top and black people at the bottom is the American caste system, and although no one alive today is responsible for starting it, we have inherited it and perpetuated it for generations. She examines the different caste systems around the world and how they damage the lives of everyone involved, even those at the top. She believes that to understand how to move forward, we must examine the past and the racial structures that keep progress as a nation at bay.
The above was taken from the sleeve of her book. She put it much more eloquently than I ever could. I have to be honest, this was a difficult book to read because it is hard to digest that people can be that cruel to other people, other human beings like yourself. It spoke of the caste system in India in addition to the racial divide here in America. We did discuss how the book made us feel and how race was a part of our childhood.
We each brought appetizers and because we were at the winery we sampled their wine and their cheese. Yum. Afterwards we went out to see and play (a little) with their goats. Here is the website for the winery should you be in that neck of the woods
We have two new books coming up that are just being released this year. Can’t wait!
