PROMISES, THEN THE STORM | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

On the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Melani McAlister began to use her journal to track the rapid development of the conflict and the parallel evolution in the ways it was represented in the US media. Drawing on McAlister’s decades of experience as a scholar of US–Middle East relations, as well as her personal history in activism, this incisive and dynamic text traces the devastating development of the current war in real time, identifying echoes with previous moments in the history of the region and the protests and artistic responses they prompted. This series of meditations explores the enduring power of narrative and memory, threading throughout the work of Arab and Arab American poets and musicians to tell a story of Palestinian resistance and resilience. 

Encompassing the earliest political promises, made and broken, that laid the ground for the Israel–Palestine conflict, subsequent wars and attempts at peace, through to the flashpoint campus protests of 2024, this text serves as a primer to the history of the region and its unique place in global consciousness. PROMISES, THEN THE STORM is a reflection on the significance of Palestinian liberation at a moment when it has never been more urgently at stake – one that reckons with possibilities for justice and equality and the hopes carried by activists and artists, against all odds, into the future.

Melani McAlister is joining us on the Busboys stage alongside Andy Shallal, founder/CEO of Busboys and Poets, to share more about her research as a scholar of US–Middle East relations and contribute a new perspective to the discussions about this conflict. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Mcalister will be signing following the program.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of PROMISES, THEN THE STORM will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed. 

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Melani McAlister is Professor of American Studies and International Affairs at George Washington University. She is a scholar of the cultural history of the US in the world, with particular interest in American relations with the Middle East. She is author of the award- winning The Kingdom of God Has No Borders: A Global History of American Evangelicals (2018), and the widely read Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East since 1945 (2005). She has written for the Washington Post, New York Times, the Nation, and the Atlantic. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, she was in 2023-24 a Fellow at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study from 2023-2024. 

Andy Shallal is an artist, social entrepreneur and founder/CEO of Busboys and Poets, a restaurant group in the Washington Metropolitan area where art, culture and politics intentionally collide over mindfully sourced food, drinks, books and event programming. With 8 locations in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, Busboys and Poets has become a home for progressives, artists, creatives and intellectuals, including such notables as Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Angela Davis and the late Howard Zinn. As a leader in the sustainable food movement, Busboys has been recognized locally and nationally for its innovative, conscious cuisine. Under Shallal’s leadership, Busboys has received numerous awards including the Mayor’s Arts Award, Employer of the Year from the Employment Justice Center and the Mayor’s Environmental Award.

Host or Publisher Busboys and Poets