During the past few years, there has been a slow creep toward fascism. There

are historical and current examples that are mirrored in Masha Gessen's book

The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. This book was the

winner of the 2017 National Book Award in Nonfiction. It was also a finalist for the

National Book Critics Circle Awards and the winner of the New York Public

Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award. In a recent January 2026 community

meeting in Lincoln, NE, the word fascism came up several times as descriptive of

what is occurring in this country.

Karen Abrams and A’Jamal Byndon will discuss the book's highlights and its

implications for current issues. A’Jamal has hosted and conducted many book

discussions and will offer examples of how to focus on content, analysis, and key

points in the book. Karen, who is also aware of the creeping fascism, will offer

her insight and what we can do to challenge those behaviors and systems that

want to dance on the fascism table. We invite participants to obtain a copy of the

book or listen to an audiobook so they can point to specific pages or chapters for

their analysis.

Our goal is to increase community members’ social justice engagement through

reading, so that they are not passive recipients of chatter and fat-mouthing that

leads to non-action.

This event will be held via Zoom/Facebook Live on Wednesday, March 18, from 7

p.m. to 8: p.m. Please register via our website.

The Future is History: Book Discussion