CCB, ACB & AWCB reading group on Wednesday July 14

From the Ashes, By Jesse THISTLE

Please RSVP by July 12th @ 12:00

Geneviève Bergiers will present the book: “FROM THE ASHES” written by Jesse THISTLE.

Jesse THISTLE is Métis-Cree-Scot from Prince Albert Saskatchewan.  He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities (Métis studies) at York University in Toronto, where he lives.  Being a PhD  candidate in the History program, he is working on theories of intergenerational and historic trauma of the Métis people.  His work, which involves reflections on his own previous struggles with addiction and homelessness, has been recognized as having wide impact on both the scholarly community and the great public.

"FROM THE ASHES” is a remarkable memoir about hope and resilience, and a revelatory look into the life of a Métis-Cree man who refused to give up.  Abandoned by his parents as a toddler, Jesse THISTLE briefly found himself in the foster-care system with his two brothers, cut-off from what they had known.  Eventually the children land in the home of their grandparents.  But the ghost of Jesse’s drug-addicted father haunted the house.  Struggling, Jesse succumbed to a self-destructive cycle of drug, alcohol addiction and petty crime, spending more than a decade on and off the streets, often homeless.  One day, he finally realised he would die unless he turned his life around ...