The Readers’ Corner is the Ashe Library’s book club which focuses on writers from the African World with a special emphasis on books highlighting social justice issues. The purpose of The Readers’ Corner is to provide a forum for its members to discuss and gain a better understanding of issues facing the African world.

The next regular meeting of TransAfrica Forum's Arthur R. Ashe, Jr. Foreign Policy Library Readers' Corner will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2008, 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM at TransAfrica Forum, 1629 K Street, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC  20006.  (Nearest Metro Station is Farragut North---Red Line--or Farragut West--Blue/Orange Lines)

The book to be discussed Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope by Tariq Ali (2006, published by Verso, London; New York).

From the publisher: "Since 1998, the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela has brought Hugo Chávez to world attention as the foremost challenger of the neoliberal consensus and American foreign policy. While Chávez’s radical social-democratic reforms have brought him worldwide acclaim among the poor, he has attracted intense hostility from Venezuelan elites and Western governments.

"Drawing on first-hand experience of Venezuela and meetings with Chávez, Tariq Ali shows how Chávez’s views have polarized Latin America and examines the hostility directed against his administration. Ali discusses the enormous influence of Fidel Castro on both Chávez and Evo Morales, the newly-elected President of Bolivia, and contrasts the Cuban and Venezuelan revolutionary processes.

"Infused with references to the culture and poetry of South America, Pirates of the Caribbean guides us through a world divided between privilege and poverty, a continent that is once again on the march." (For more information visit http://www.versobooks.com/books/ab/a-titles/ali_t_pirates_caribbean.shtm...)

The book is available at Teaching for Change Bookstore at Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th St. NW, Washington, DC (two blocks from the Cardozo/U Street Metro.

Contact: General Manager Don Allen 202.387.POET or click here for more info.