Understanding the Message with BPL - Insight with Black History Month

 

Hey, y’all! It is February, a glorious and prideful month as we celebrate Black History Month. 

It’s JoElisa Bridges of the Central Library again, with another monthly reading list! Most of these books are available for checkout from at JCLC member libraries including BPL:

In Birmingham,  our city's role in the Civil Rights Movement played a significant role in creating the modern world we see today. We all know about the stories:

* Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

* Rosa Parks. 

* The Birmingham Campaign. 

* The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing and our Four Little Girls tragically killed. 

* John Lewis and the Freedom Riders. 

* The Birmingham and Montgomery Bus Boycotts. 

* The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). 

* Perhaps one of my past mentors, Colonel Stone Johnson. 

And so much more - possibly including our grandparents or parents who participated in civil rights marches in Birmingham during the 1960s as children and teenagers at that time. 

Sure enough, the Civil Rights Movement contested many causes, including racism, segregation, disenfranchisement, Jim Crow Laws, and various socioeconomic inequalities. 

A few of the victories include the overturned favor of Brown v. Board of Education, acceptance of interracial marriages (Loving v. Virginia), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

However, we should all remember that it is still OK to make good, non-violent trouble (The late John Lewis was famous for that statement after he was attacked on Bloody Sunday)

And in our current, post-modern times, we need it more than ever. The fight for civil rights is the fight for human rights. 

As we uncover intersectional injustices, there will always be battles worth fighting as we create a more positive and inclusive world for all to enjoy. 

Happy Black History Month to everyone!! 

 Here is a shortlist of books that share various insights into understanding the evolved message of today: 

"Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619 – 2019" (Ibram X. Kendi & Keisha N. Blain)

"Anti-racist Ally: An Introduction to Action and Activism" (Sophie Williams) 

"Resist: 35 profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose up Against Tyranny and Injustice" (Veronica Chambers)

"Black Lives Matter: From Hashtag to the Streets" (Dr. Artika R. Tyner)

"The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" (Michelle Alexander: Law professor at Ohio State University)

"Becoming Ms. Burton: from Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarceration" (Susan Burton: Founder of A New Way of Life organization)

"Unbound: My Story of Liberation and the Birth of the Me Too Movement" (Tarana Burke: Founder of the Me Too movement) [good cover] 

"Laverne Cox: Transgender Pioneers" (Erin Staley) 

"Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism" (Daisy Hernandez & Bushra Rehman) [good cover]

"Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Round the World" (Condé M. Nast) 

By Jo Bridges of the Central Library's Arts, Literature & Sports Department