Resources for African American Studies by James Tasato Mellone, Historical Cultural and Social Sciences Librarian
The QC Library is delighted to celebrate Black History Month (also known as African American History Month)! In this time of continuing struggle for racial justice we acknowledge the contributions to our global society made by African American culture and history!
When discussing diversity, we remember our African American fellow citizens, whether students or colleagues, or family or friends or neighbors, and recognize the centrality of the African American experience to the American experience. We also acknowledge the ongoing American civil rights movement led by African Americans past and present.
We present a new U. S. Civil Rights History research guide, and as part of our Africana Studies research guide we present a guide to celebrate Black History Month that provides a selection of films, books, and music,
Below are a few highlights!
BlacKkKlansman (2018, 2h 15min) Directed by Spike Lee. “A black detective sets out to infiltrate the Colorado chapter of the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his Jewish colleague. In the midst of the 1970s civil rights movement, they risk their lives to obtain insider information on the violent organization” – Swank.
I Am Not Your Negro; James Baldwin and Race in America (2013, 1hr 33min) Directed by Raoul Peck. “An Oscar-nominated documentary narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO explores the continued peril America faces from institutionalized racism. In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, Remember This House. The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his close friends–Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left behind only thirty completed pages of his manuscript.” – Kanopy
Motherhood So White by Nefertiti Austin
ISBN: 9781492679011
Publication Date: 2019-09-20
“All moms have to deal with choosing baby names, potty training, finding your village, and answering your kid’s tough questions, but if you are raising a Black child, you have to deal with a lot more than that. Especially if you’re a single Black mom… and adopting. Nefertiti Austin shares her story of starting a family through adoption as a single Black woman. In this unflinching account of her parenting journey, Nefertiti examines the history of adoption in the African American community, faces off against stereotypes of single Black moms, and confronts the reality of what it looks like to raise children of color and answer their questions about racism in modern-day America…”
A Past That Won’t Rest by Jim Lucas (Photographer); Jane Hearn (Editor)
ISBN: 149681651X
Publication Date: 2018-03-22
“Collects never-before-published photographs taken by Jim Lucas (1944-1980), an exceptional documentary photographer. His black-and-white images, taken during 1964 through 1968, depict events from the civil rights movement including the search for the missing civil rights workers in Neshoba County, the Meredith March Against Fear, Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s visit to the Mississippi Delta, and more. The photographs exemplify Lucas’s technical skill and reveal the essential truth in his subjects and the circumstances surrounding them…”
Barbara Hendricks: Duke Ellington and Gershwin
Warner Classics, 2007, accessed in Naxos Music Library database
Wynton Marsalis: Jazz 6 1/2 Syncopated Movements and Jump Start
Sony Classical, 1997, accessed in Naxos Music Library database