Central Skagit Library District

"A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane María. It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro "Prieto" Acevedo, are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's powerbrokers....

"Set during Reconstruction-era New Orleans, this new work from the acclaimed author of Between Earth and Sky is a powerful story of human resilience--and of the unlikely bonds that hold fast even in our darkest moments. "The dead can't hurt you--only the living can." Effie Jones, a former slave who escaped to the Union side as a child, knows the truth of her words. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife during the War, she learned to read and write,...

GO FURTHER explores the idea that the single individual is the key to large-scale transformational change. The film follows actor Woody Harrelson as he takes a small group of friends on a bio-fuelled bus-ride down the Pacific Coast Highway. Their goal? To show the people they encounter that there are viable alternatives to our habitual, environmentally-destructive behaviours. The travellers include a yoga-teacher, a raw food chef, a hemp-activist,...

The author's first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when her parents told her they named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. She grew up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, and has spent her life navigating America's racial divide as a writer, a speaker, and an expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion. While so many institutions claim to value diversity...

The Action League Grannies have been spied on by the California National Guard. They've been written about in Time magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Jose Mercury News. They've appeared on Fox News with Bill O'Reilly, Jon Stewart's Comedy Central, and are regulars in Bay Area evening news stories. In public, they've been both booed and cheered, but they continue to protest with a sense of outrage, a sense of humor, and a commitment...

A key figure behind the Egyptian uprising in January 2011 which resulted in the ousting of President Mubarak tells the inside story and presents lessons on how to unleash the power of crowds to create political change.

"An adaptation of the powerful, New York Times bestselling account of growing up Black and female in America, completely rewritten with new stories for young readers. Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with race in America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to trick future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, "I had to learn what it means...

"An illustrated celebration of Gen Z activists fighting to make our world a better place. Gen Z is populated--and defined--by activists. They are bold and original thinkers and not afraid to stand up to authority and conventional wisdom. From the March for Our Lives to the fight for human rights and climate change awareness, this generation is leading the way toward truth and hope like no generation before. Generation Brave showcases Gen Z activists...

Iris Baez, a Puerto Rican from the Bronx, never meant to become an activist. Kadiatou Diallo never meant to leave her home in Africa and move to the U.S., to fight for justice for her son. Doris Busch Boskey, a Jewish woman from the suburbs, never thought she'd become a spokesperson against police brutality. This film profiles three women from very different walks of life who find themselves united to seek justice after their sons are unjustly killed...

Invitation to Dance is an eye-opening insider's account of disability in 21st century America. Simi Linton's story forms the narrative backbone of the documentary. The film traces both her personal growth as a disabled woman, and the larger historically significant developments around her over the past 40 years. Simi serves as navigator and tour guide to a world largely unknown, generally isolated, and commonly dismissed. In 1971, Simi Linton was...