Conversations in Black & White: An Afternoon With Author Rick Collins (NWL)

In 21^st century America, issues of race are still prominent in what many describe as a post-racial society. As an educator and a former athlete, Rick Collins has constantly found himself at the center of racially based questions and discussions both in and out of the classroom as he encountered student athletes from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. These questions and discussions stirred his desire to have more open dialogue on these issues and they became the focus of his second novel. His second focus on issues of identity begs the question, “What do we really know about each other?” Amid the noise of accusations of racial disparities and discrimination is the truth that there are lessons to be learned from our daily human encounters.

Rick Collins will discuss his new novel The Providence of Basketball which tackles issues of race and a system that perpetuates privileges of race and class. As a white teenager, growing up in West Beaumont, the protagonist Tim is unaware of the racial and social disparities that exist outside of his world. After a night of playing basketball with his black friends, he arrives on predominantly black Cranston Street in Providence and is immediately drawn to the basketball court on which a game is in progress. First, he must prove himself worthy of participating. Just as he believes he is in, he encounters the menacing Pele, whose control of Cranston Street threatens to destroy the lives of the residents, including Tim’s French-Canadian grand parents Meme and Poppy. Then, there is the beautiful and strong-willed dark-skinned Sherri, who sets Tim’s young heart pumping across the racial divide. Tensions rise under the shadow of the despicable Beaumont, and the heat on Cranston Street soon boils over as it spills beyond the courts, threatening to consume the neighborhood.

Rick Collins is a retired teacher and basketball coach. His debut novel It Emptied Us: From Tragedy to Forgiveness published in 2019, is an exploration of friendships and triumph over tragedy as the characters come of age in a small town. His second novel The Providence of Basketball tackles issues of race and a system that perpetuates privileges of race and class. A former Track and Field athlete, Collins brings to his writing his experience of encounters throughout his career with racially and ethnically diverse athletes. His upcoming book, A Run of the River, will be published in the summer of 2020. Collins lives in Simsbury with his wife, Betsy, and he has two children, Hannah and Sam.

You can find him on Facebook and Twitter at @RickyCollins25. Both novels are available on Amazon.com.

PARKING: There is ample library event parking in the nearby Isham Garage. Please bypass the garage kiosks and come directly to the Noah Webster Library Meeting Room, 20 South Main Street, where you may validate your parking with your license plate number.