May 24th - June 5th is Black Lives, Black Stories

May 24th - June 5th is the 1 year anniversary of the 2020 Racial Justice Protest and the 100 year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Glendale Library, Arts & Culture commemorates these dates with Black Lives, Black Stories, part of the Be the Change series.

In honor of Black Live, Black Stories, the library is hosting an author talk, releasing programming for children, and much more. The below programs are generously sponsored by the City of Glendale Arts and Culture Commission through funding from the City of Glendale Urban Art Fund.

Programming

• Hannibal Johnson in conversation with Donzaleigh Abernathy - Harvard Law School graduate, author, attorney, and consultant, Hannibal Johnson discusses his book  Black Wall Street 100: An American City Grapples With Its Historical Racial Trauma with Actress, Activist and Writer Donzaleigh Abernathy. Black Wall Street 100 is a window into what distinguishes the Tulsa of today from the Tulsa of a century ago. Before peering through that porthole, we must first reflect on Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District in all its splendor and squalor, from the prodigious entrepreneurial spirit that pervaded it to the carnage that characterized the 1921 massacre to the post-massacre rebound and rebuilding that raised the District to new heights to the mid-twentieth-century decline that proved to be a second near-fatal blow to the current recalibration and rebranding of a resurgent, but differently configured, community. Check out Black Wall Street 100 from the Library. Signed copies of Black Wall Street 100 are available from our partner, Once Upon a Time Bookstore.

What has happened since June 2020

Glendale Library, Arts & Culture continues to attempt to build a collective response to systemic racism through the participation in planned programs and projects. 

• Our ongoing Be the Change series elevates the voices and stories of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), and inspires our community to be the change through virtual lectures, exhibits, and online programming and resources from authors, curators, and historians. 

• In response to the City of Glendale’s sundown town resolution, we created the exhibit Reckoning: Racism & Resistance in Glendale to provide a historical and contemporary narrative, acknowledging local racist history and ongoing racism. This exhibit provides a platform for increased awareness, communication and feedback from the community.  

• All Glendale Library, Arts & Culture staff participated in the YWCA Glendale 21 Day Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge to offer employees the power and tools to move forward. We encourage our community to participate in the conversation about racism and social justice by taking part in the challenge. 

• The City of Glendale presented a City of Glendale Community Conversation: Panel on Racism: Past & Present, Thursday, July 30, 2020, the first of several in a series, part of demonstrating the city’s commitment to recognizing its past and moving forward into the future.

Virtual ReflectSpace Exhibit – Reckoning: Racism & Resistance in Glendale

A multi-dimensional and multi-faceted virtual exhibition, public art installation and community engagement project that examines and responds to Glendale’s racist history, the resistance to that racism and our current moment of reckoning.

Booklists and Local Resources

Learn more about Black Lives and culture, and explore cookbooks, music, fiction, non-fiction books, and more with our booklists.

• Adult Booklist

• Teen Booklist

• Children's Booklists

  • Black Identity: books that celebrate Black Boy Joy and Black Girl Magic

  • Black Experience: books that depict all kinds of Black families and experiences

  • Black Characters: Books featuring dynamic Black characters in other genres

  • Black History: historical fiction and nonfiction books about different figures and eras in Black History

  • Black Struggle: books that explore different aspects contemporary racial injustice

  • Difficult Conversations: books that offer a starting place for hard but important conversations and action

Explore local resources including Black in Glendale - B.I.G.'s mission is to promote awareness and respect for Black culture through events that honor the heritage, creativity and contributions of Black people and builds community among Glendale neighbors and friends.

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We hope that you enjoy GLAC’s Black Lives, Black Stories line-up of programs, events, resources, and booklists, and get a chance to learn something new!