Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. | America, U.S.A.

The Author Events Series presents Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. | America, U.S.A. 

In Conversation with Senator Cory Booker

Montgomery Auditorium is now sold out. We have opened a rush line for anyone interested in purchasing Auditorium tickets at the door for $5. Please register for the rush line.

The rush line will be available on a first come, first served basis. Guests will be asked to line up in the Lobby prior to the event. Auditorium seats are not guaranteed, but we are often able to accommodate a significant number of guests. A staff member will assess how many seats are empty approximately five minutes before the event commences and will allow the corresponding number of patrons into the Auditorium. 

Please bring $5 cash in order to purchase a rush ticket. Credit cards or other forms of payment will not be accepted.

Celebrated public intellectual Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. presents a groundbreaking analysis of the vicious cycles of American history and the country’s enduring refusal to face its true nature—especially at the moments when national anniversaries steer us back toward the mythology meant to disguise the truth.

America, U.S.A., deliberately formulated and beautifully written, details a heart-wrenching exploration of America’s legacy. It is a magnificently complex combination of lessons and voices—from W.E.B. DuBois and John Dos Passos to Herman Melville and Martin Luther King, Jr.—that, together, paint a sprawling and honest tableau of the United States, its complicated past, and ever more tenuous future. Glaude’s is a powerful voice of conscience in our tumultuous world. He pulls no punches, calling on us to interrogate our conceptions of innocence and freedom and the stories we tell ourselves about our past and present.

Centered around the major celebrations of America’s milestone birthdays across 250 years of history, the book offers a riveting look at the battles over who has a stake in writing the American story. Devastatingly candid, profoundly moving, and deeply reflective, America, U.S.A. is a shining meditation on how we must reckon with a grim past in order to strive for the better angels of our future.

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University and author of New York Times bestselling Begin Again and Democracy in Black.

Senator Cory Booker is the senior United States Senator from New Jersey. He served as mayor of Newark before becoming New Jersey’s first Black senator and only the fourth popularly elected Black senator in US history. 

Because you love Author Events, please make a donation when you register for this event to ensure that this series continues to inspire Philadelphians.

Books will be available for purchase at the library on event night!

All tickets are non-refundable.

The views expressed by the authors and moderators are strictly their own and do not represent the opinions of the Free Library of Philadelphia or its employees.

Event Time Wednesday, May 27, 2026 7:00pm-8:00pm

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. | America, U.S.A.
Event Location
Parkway Central Library

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