October 21, 2026
Jackson, Mississippi
Heather McGhee wrote The Sum of Us to answer a question most of us stopped asking out loud. Why do we keep draining the pool?
On October 21, she brings that question to Jackson. She will deliver a version of her TED talk, then sit down with Aisha Nyandoro of Springboard for Opportunities for a conversation about what this city gains when every child and every family has what they need.
The evening is free and open to the public. After the event, reading groups across Jackson will take up the book together this fall, and on January 19, McGhee returns for the National Day of Racial Healing.
Hosted by
The Evening
Join Us On October 21.
Doors open at 5:00pm. Programming ends at 7:30 PM.
Your evening includes:
5:00 PM — Reception, drinks and food
5:30 PM — Heather McGhee on The Sum of Us
6:30 PM — Questions from the floor
7:30 PM — Programming ends
McGhee will deliver a version of her TED talk on zero-sum thinking and the drained pool, then take questions from the room. Books will be available on site.
Free and open to the public. Tell us on the RSVP form if you need reserved seating or interpretation.
Speakers
Heather McGhee
Author, The Sum of Us
McGhee spent two decades in economic policy before writing The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, a New York Times bestseller. Her argument is that the costs of racism land on all of us, and that what she calls the solidarity dividend is available to any community willing to claim it.
Aisha Nyandoro
Founding CEO, Springboard To Opportunities
Nyandoro built one of the country's most closely watched guaranteed income programs here in Jackson, working directly with families in federally subsidized housing. She has spent her career arguing that the people closest to a problem already know the answer, and that the job is to trust them with the resources.
Book Clubs
Reading together this fall
Between October 22 and November 21, reading groups across Jackson will work through The Sum of Us together. From congregations, to campuses, to civic organizations, and families, we will all read and work through the same book, together.
What comes out of those rooms goes back to McGhee before she returns in January.
faith
St. Andrew's Cathedral
Northminster
First Presbyterian
Beth Israel
Galloway
Interfaith Mayors Circle
St. Andrew's Cathedral Northminster First Presbyterian Beth Israel Galloway Interfaith Mayors Circle
campus
Jackson State University
Millsaps College
Tougaloo College
Jackson State University Millsaps College Tougaloo College
civic
One Voice
Great City Foundation
Jackson Redevelopment Authority
Working Together JXN
Junior League of Jackson
One Voice Great City Foundation Jackson Redevelopment Authority Working Together JXN Junior League of Jackson
schools & families
St. Andrew's Episcopal School
JPS Middle School Group
Operation Shoestring parents
St. Andrew's Episcopal School JPS Middle School Group Operation Shoestring parents
Join a group
Tell us which room you want to be in and we will connect you with the host. No cost, no prior reading required.
Host a group
Your congregation, your block, your staff. We will send the discussion guide and help you get books.
RSVP
Free and open to the public. We will confirm by email within two business days.
VENUE
Two Mississippi Museums
222 North St.
Jackson, MS 39201
Free parking on site. The venue is wheelchair accessible.
January 19th
McGhee returns to Jackson to hear what came out of the reading groups, in conversation with Dr. Gail Christopher, who created the National Day of Racial Healing.
Dr. Christopher is her mother.
At the Two Mississippi Museums. Registration opens in October. More info to come.
National Day of Racial Healing · 2027
PARTNERS
