Oliver W. Hill Book Club discusses Diary of a Broken Mind with Author Anne Moss Rogers, the Emotionally Naked® Speaker
Join the virtual Oliver W. Hill Book Club discussion of Diary of a Broken Mind: A Mother's Story, A Son's Suicide and the Haunting Lyrics He Left Behind with the award-winning author Anne Moss Rogers, "The Emotionally Naked® Speaker".
The Book:
Diary of a Broken Mind: A Mother’s Story, A Son’s Suicide and the Haunting Lyrics He Left Behind by Anne Moss Rogers and the late Charles Aubrey Rogers focuses on the relatable story of what led to Charles’ shocking suicide at age twenty and answers the “why” behind this cause of death, revealed through her family’s story and years of his published and unpublished rap song lyrics. The last several chapters focus on hope and healing and how Anne Moss Rogers found her purpose and forgave herself.
This memoir won the 2020 New York Book Festival for Nonfiction, was a 2020 International Book Award Finalist, 2020 American Book Award Finalist, 2020 Reader’s Choice Award Finalist, and a 2020 nominee for the Virginia Library Literary Award.
The Book Club:
The Richmond Public Law Library’s bi-monthly online Oliver W. Hill Book Club is named in honor of Oliver W. Hill (1907–2007), a Richmond African American attorney and civil rights activist. His efforts, along with others, resulted in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that racial segregation in public education was unconstitutional.
The Oliver W. Hill Book Club invites readers to explore various books dealing with the law, civil rights, and social justice in America.
The Author:
Anne Moss Rogers is an emotionally naked® speaker, TEDx storyteller,
certified suicide prevention trainer, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Virginia board member and fundraising chair, and winner of the Pat Asch Fellowship for Social Justice and suicide prevention in youth. After her 20-year-old son, Charles died by suicide June 5, 2015, Anne Moss Rogers chronicled her family’s tragedy in a newspaper article that went viral, and her blog, Emotionally Naked, has reached millions.
She has been featured in the New York Times and was the first suicide loss survivor ever invited to speak to at the National Institute of Mental Health. She has authored a second book, Emotionally Naked: A Teacher’s Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk, with co-writer Kim O’Brien Ph.D. LICSW.
During the book discussion, Ms. Rogers will discuss various issues, including "Have our jails and courts become holding cells for the mentally ill and those with Substance Use Disorder?"
A UNC-Chapel Hill alumna, Anne Moss Rogers currently lives in Richmond, VA with her husband. Her surviving son, Richard, is a filmmaker in LA.
- Date:
- Monday, May 9, 2022
- Time:
- 6:30pm - 7:30pm
- Categories:
- Author Visit Book Discussion Civic Life Law Virtual
Meldon Jenkins-Jones is the Richmond Public Library / Community Services Manager at Hull Street Branch Library.
Meldon also chairs the Get Lit Advisory Committee which supports the Richmond Public Library Get Lit Reading Initiatives including the Black Male Emergent Readers (BMER) program and the Lit Chicks Read book clubs.
Meldon is a graduate of the Leadership Metro Richmond Class of 2022. She was the first recipient of the Virginia Library Association (VLA) Librarians of Color Forum Award in 2021 and is an active member of VLA. She presented “Libraries Bringing Community Together” at the 2023 VLA Annual Conference.
In 2011, Meldon received her Master of Library and Information Studies from Florida State University. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law—Newark and practiced law in New Jersey until her retirement in 2003. Meldon received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she studied African American Studies and Russian Civilization.
A Metro Richmond resident, Meldon is the mother of two adult children and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.
