Book Sponsorship Program
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In a TEDx talk hosted by the Princeton Public Library on June 1, 2011, I drew connections between Pakistan and Haiti:
Both countries are prime examples of what the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie, in an excellent TED talk in 2009, called “the danger of a single story.” We Americans tell ourselves a single story about Haiti, and a different single story about Pakistan. … If Haiti meets our need to have someone to pity, Pakistan fulfills our need to have someone or something to fear. Fear, pity, and contempt are easy, self-indulgent emotions. Much more demanding is to cultivate and practice respect. … There’s a wonderful verse in the Quran that makes this point eloquently: “O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another.”
One of my guiding principles as a traveler and reporter is that understanding should always precede both judgment and action. My books Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip and Bearing the Bruise: A Lifetime in Haiti are my contributions to helping myself and other Americans improve our understanding of two chronically misunderstood countries.
My book sponsorship program is a way to help get more copies of both books into the hands of more Americans, by giving them away to students, teachers, libraries, and political, religious, and civic leaders around the United States. Thanks to generous sponsors, during 2011 I’ve been able to give away hundreds of copies of Overtaken By Events to students at Harvard, Cornell, the University of Chicago, Texas Christian University, Bennington College, and Seattle Central Community College, as well as to pastors, librarians, and other opinion leaders.
The program’s accomplishments to date and potential are illustrated by an email I received from TCU student Paul Jorden in January 2011, just after I spoke to his World Religions class taught by Professor Mark Dennis. “Dear Mr. Casey,” he wrote,
Thank you very much for the copy of your book. I am thoroughly looking forward to learning more about life and the hardships of those in Pakistan and how terrorism shapes our (Americans’) perception of Muslims. Thank you for taking the time to speak to our class. I sincerely appreciate the importance of issues such as this, especially during times when it seems that our lives are permeated by a constant fear of terrorism via the news. Best of luck with promoting awareness.
In a student publication after I spoke to his class at Seattle Central Community College, student A.K. Jordan wrote:
Following Casey’s presentation, all students were given a copy of Casey’s most recent publication, Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip. Students were encouraged to read the book and give constructive feedback/reflections of their experiences with the text. Casey … handed out the books, and explained that the cost of the books had been donated by individuals and families that share Casey’s “concern for bringing a more accurate and human view of Pakistan to American students and other readers.”
I will also be giving away 300 copies of Overtaken By Events to faculty and staff in international studies programs at university throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana at the annual Region III conference of NAFSA, October 24-27 in Oklahoma City, where I will be the keynote speaker.
You can help extend the reach and effectiveness of the Book Sponsorship Program by sponsoring copies of Overtaken By Events. Just use this button and your major credit card to sponsor any number of copies:
Thank you for your support!
