The Transformative Impact of Books: Feature Interview With Danielle B. Henson, Founder of “The Conversation Peace”

Life is about transformation and riptides of change. Today, we are living amid times that often defy our basic assumptions about our world, work, and humanity. 

As we ricochet through this uncharted terrain, our values are evolving and belief systems are shifting, sending shockwaves throughout our entire human existence. 

The ensuing new realities can be unpredictable and anxiety ridden. Regardless of the outcomes, the future is unlikely to resemble the past as we know it. 

The good news is that we have the opportunity to emerge from these times with greater strength and resiliency than ever. The unprecedented period that we’ve had to maneuver through over the past 12-18 months has fueled a profoundly transformative pathway to life expansion. 

Over the years, Chicago area resident Danielle Henson has been immersed in the work of personal transformation through the use of books and other library resources. Formerly the Community Collaboration Coordinator of the Gail Borden Public Library System in Elgin, Illinois, Danielle is now directing her attention toward helping to facilitate transformative change in the social, racial, and equity systems that undergird the Chicago area and beyond. 

Recently, Danielle and I had a spirited conversation by phone where we talked about her own transformational journey in the world of books. Asked to share some of her life discoveries and what makes her tick, she had this to say: 

“For starters, I am an avid reader, spiritual seeker, and a community collaborator. I love to learn and share with my family, friends, professional networks and communities. I have woven volunteering, community advocacy, graphic arts, restaurant management and bartending, meditation instruction, and my community engagement work in libraries into an interesting tapestry of personal and professional resources.” 

While at Gail Borden Library District, Danielle was a Volunteer Coordinator, and later a Community Collaboration Coordinator. These opportunities, she says, allowed her to weave many vibrant community and library threads in building a strong web of resources and talent throughout the Fox Valley suburb of Chicago. She notes: 

“I enjoyed building bridges of understanding and restorative practice which celebrated our rich cultural communities. I also led efforts in proclaiming Elgin as an International City of Peace, identifying talents and encouraging the community to volunteer in new ways. We collaborated to discuss books and films that educate and build prevention around radicalized hate, violence, racism, and incarceration. And our collaborative efforts to launch a Walking Book Club along with our library efforts to lead peace-building and resiliency-building collaborations became a national model.” 

Danielle B. Henson

Danielle says that she believes that libraries are the ultimate temples of knowledge, opportunity and equity. 

“I loved walking through the front doors everyday and witnessing the community engaging in various forms of connection, celebration and learning. I love what libraries can do! I loved my work and the communities I served!”

Asked about some of her own early memories as a young reader, Danielle had this to say: 

“I was surrounded by books at home, mostly psychology, astronomy, astrology and physics. I particularly found myself drawn to titles that focused on overcoming difficult childhoods. This gave me a concrete awareness that I wasn’t alone.” 

She admits to not being an avid reader until she became a mother in her early twenties.

“The merging of quantum-physics and spiritual tradition in The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot (1991) was a fascination of mine. Other catalysts for my reading interests were the self mastery and practical application of spiritual principles in books like “An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments in Truth” by Mahatmas Gandhi and “The Handbook for Creating Your Future” by Mark Thurston. These books sent me on a treasure hunt for spiritual concepts and ideas through many religions and scientific research.” 

Danielle says that her search for growth, hope, and meaning from non-fiction (and some fiction authors) has not subsided: 

“I am passionate about individual and collective action for peace, justice, healing, and creativity to empower a thriving future. Fortunately for me there are many books still to discover.” 

Danielle says books have greatly influenced her work at Conversation Peace, a forum she created to foster creative transformation through listening and sharing: 

“Conversation Peace, a collective of secular and spiritual thinkers, educators and poets, has always been a part of my imaginative journey, one that I can now live out in virtual spaces. I have had dreams of a brick and mortar collaborative space for classes, groups, book and film discussions, and book store for many years. But, my passionate commitment to community through libraries and volunteerism left little time, money or energy to buy the bricks for my own ideas. I then realized in 2020 that I had little choice left but to make the choice to create and engage in new ways with less physical and political boundaries.” 

Reflecting on her time at Gail Borden, she says that her collaborative library style was always one of inclusion, which is deeply spiritual. 

“Mother Teresa once suggested that you can serve God (insert your faith here) in community without proselytizing. In other words, your actions are your spiritual practice. In that spirit, I look to discover community wisdom in whatever form the community needs. It is at that point that I can invite them to the collaboration table and ask "How can we reach our collective community dreams?"

Reflecting on the evolution of Conversation Peace, she offered this: 

“Despite having, over the years, developed and immersed myself in spiritual direction, my Conversation Peace project literally "sat on a shelf" waiting for my undivided attention. It wasn’t until I began laying the virtual bricks for it as a place to share thoughtful voices on many important topics, while weaving in the word-fabric of poets, spiritual and philosophical thinkers, social justice leaders, therapists and academics that it became a reality. My hope is for others to find encouraging words from distant friends who are also traversing difficult times as we build more content, discussions, and classes.” 

At this point in our discussion, I became curious as to what 

authors and books have had the greatest influence on Danielle’s life? In voluminous fashion, she responded as a true bibliophile would. 

So grab a seat……..

Paulo Coelho’s“Manual of The Warrior of Light”(+his entire collection)

 Dr. Cornel West’s  “Hope on a Tightrope (+his entire collection and articles)” 

Anne Lamott’s “Grace Eventually:Thoughts on Faith”

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola-Estes “Women Who Run With The Wolves”

Dan Millman’s “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior” 

Michael Talbot’s  “The Holographic Universe”

Noam Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent” 

James Baldwin’s  “The Fire Next Time” and  “A Letter From a Region in My Mind” ( November 17th, 1962 New Yorker Article)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Ethics”

Michele Alexander’s  “The New Jim Crow”

Sydney Kirkpatrick’s  “An American Prophet”

Nadia Boltz-Webber’s “Pastrix”

Jimmy Santiago’s “Baca: A Place to Stand”

Simon Wiesenthal’s  “The Sunflower: On the Possibility and Limits of Forgiveness”

Mahatmas Gandhi:  “An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments in Truth”

Immaculee Ilibagiza’s  “Left to Tell”

Donna Woolfolk Cross’  “Pope Joan” 

Viktor Frankl’s “Man's Search for Meaning”

Lars Eighner’s  “Travels with Lizbeth: Three Years on the Road and on the Street”

Dalai Lama & Howard C. Cutler’s “The Art of Happiness” 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letters from a Birmingham Jail- April 16, 1963” 

Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle”

Dr. Brian Weiss’ “Many Lives, Many Masters”

John Hersey’s “Hiroshima”

Coleman Barks’s “The Essential Rumi”

“Saint Teresa of Avila’s  “Interior Castle” (several versions various authors)

Naomi Klein’s  “The Schock Doctrine” 

There are many more I could reference and revisit that helped me understand myself, our world, and the joys and pain we all share.

 I was also curious about Danielle’s  reading preference. Traditional hardback/paperback books? Digital ebooks? Audiobooks? Here’s her response: 

“I read a LOT of articles, attend virtual opportunities from around the world, engage and share opportunities on social media, listen to podcasts, and work, write and edit online everyday. So my tolerance for additional reading in ebook or audiobook formats is ZERO. I am a hardcover-paperback baby.” 

She says that reading, pondering, rereading and (OMG) underlining brings her joy. Also highlighting and jotting down furious notes (not in a library book) along with dog-earing book pages are all a part of her DNA. 

“I love independent bookstores in person or online, and I frequent second hand book stores because I like multiple copies of books that I adore to pass onto friends, family, or strangers on a trip.” 

To conclude, I asked Danielle for her thoughts and perspectives on why she believes reading is such a fundamentally important lifelong learning practice for becoming an informed world citizen. Here is what she had to say: 

“Reading is a magic key to a treasure of wealth within you and outside of yourself. I often say ‘we can't know everything, where would we put it?’ because we don't have the capacity to know everything.  But someone definitely studied it and wrote about it in a book somewhere! If it is in a book we can be close to it. We can reference it, or highlight and underline it (if you own it); share it, review it, chew on it (mentally- please don't eat your books). Or challenge it.”

She continues: 

“Books hold our history, our science, our planets, our ideas, our love, our struggles, our hate, our church, our faith, our aspirations, and inspirations. Without books we would not know ourselves or each other as deeply, nor would we have the opportunity to understand our collective history which is essential to building our future. We would be bound by the algorithms of online data and the biases that build them.” 

Offering a closing thought, Danielle had this to say: 

“Bookstores and libraries hold treasures (on real or virtual shelves) that help us understand our world or transcend it. They hold the lessons and questions so we can explore, listen, share and transform our conversations about what peace means for our future together. My good friend and a remarkable sociology instructor, Professor Joyce Fountain, encourages us all to make changes within us as we ‘think about what you think about.’  I believe that can be done best after reading a difficult line or concept in an interesting book. I wish you many turned pages as you dive into what informs and transforms you!