CHICAGO — The pandemic may have initially shut down a number of endeavors, but it reinforced the long-standing truth that reading is fundamental. One just has to show up to the Visible Man Review book club on the last Thursday of every month to bear witness to that.
VMR includes diverse Black men, ages 30 to 75, featuring a cross-section of professions, including engineers, artists, art collectors, attorneys and educators. Attorney Alex Breland of Kenwood started the book club in January 2021 as a way to connect during a time of isolation. At the onset, Breland reached out to his friends and colleagues.
“It’s a play on Ralph Ellison’s book, ‘Invisible Man,’ ” Breland said of the book club’s name. “The thought was we’re visible, meaning Black men. My thought was that’s a cool literary reference and gets to my point of what I think is important, which is figuring out a way for us to be supportive, visible for each other.”
