(In Person) Book Club Meeting: The Color Line by Igiaba Scego

Picture this: it’s the mid-1800s, and Lafanu Brown—yeah, honey—has the audacity to want to be an artist. Right after the Civil War? For a Black woman? Chile, the struggle was real. But this girl—the daughter of a Native American mother and an African Haitian father— had that fire in her belly. She got herself an education, traveled overseas, and chased those dreams, but baby, let me tell you, she paid for it in blood, sweat, and tears facing down hate at every turn. Now flip the script to 2019. We got this brilliant Somali-Italian art curator scrambling to get her sixteen-year-old cousin over to Europe after that child done risked everything on a deadly journey to Italy. And while she’s putting together this powerful exhibit—mixing Lafanu’s historic paintings with art from young migrants—she can’t shake Lafanu’s story. She starts digging deep, unearthing secrets that tie their lives together across time. Weaving together these two bold, beautiful voices, Igiaba Scego delivers a raw, real look at what it means to be the “other”—to be a woman, a Black woman, far from home, then and now. As we continue our 2026 AROUND THE WORLD reading journey, The Color Line brings us to Italy for October’s theme: IT HAPPENED IN ITALY. 🇮🇹 And listen here—you don’t even have to read the book to come through! Just show up for the vibes, meet your Mocha Girls sisters, and enjoy an afternoon filled with lit conversation, good energy, and dope community. RSVP so we can save you a seat!