Last updated on March 9, 2019
By Gloria Cortes
The Volunteer State Community College Rendered Invisible event, where Vanderbilt University Dr. Frank E. Dobson, Jr., will talk about his book, “Rendered Invisible: Stories of Blacks and Whites, Love and Death,” is on Feb. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., in the Wood Campus Center.
This event is hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for Black History Month.
Vol State Office of Diversity and Inclusion administrative assistant Lori Miller says Dobson spoke at Vol State before, but this event will mainly focus on discussing his book.
“When we have books of literature that people can read and then share their inputs- because we can read the same thing and get completely different messages from it-, and it’s in sharing what we learn from it that we can benefit from it,” said Miller.
Dobson’s book, “Rendered Invisible,” is about the story of the infamous “Caliber Killer” who murdered several black men in upstate New York in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, according to www.volstate.edu/events.
“Voice is urgent and significant- Dobson focuses throughout on the invisible and the unvoiced- he brings them to center stage, where they speak their pain and frustration. ‘Maybe we can revise history, one of his characters says; Dobson’s book does just that,” according to www.goodreads.com.
“Some classes use his book, and we will be giving out copies of his book too,” said Miller.
Vol State student Jessica Parker said that it is important to read black literature because it offers a different perspective of society, a perspective that some people may not really understand or realize existed.
“It can be hard for people to recognize the racism and prejudice towards the black community today, but that’s why we need to remember where we came from, because some people even today can’t see [racism],” said Parker.
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