Research Notes #14
Creating Community Through Shared Resources
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Happy Summer Solstice! I hope that you are finding ways to enjoy the warmer weather. This past weekend we got the chance to visit Nashville and not wear masks and it was glorious. Getting vaccinated was the best decision we made in 2021. I hope that, if you can be vaccinated, you are or will be vaccinated soon. We really want to continue this trend of being out in public together as a community and not have future surges of COVID amoung the vulnerable populations. Please do your part, if you can, and get the vaccine!
This week in the newsletter, I will draw on the lessons learned while writing at backwash.com (web archive) where we used our columns to amplify voices in other spaces of the internet. By uplifting other voices, we created online communities of thought and practice. Drawing on the motto, “The internet organized by personality” writers at the site provided links to other areas of the internet where each topic was being discussed, shining light on some of the spaces of the internet that were not yet lit up. The influencer culture of today often alienates creators from one another, but with this newsletter I am continuing the tradition I learned in my early days of writing on the internet - as you move forward, always uplift others.
Continuing to lift up the voices of those who are not as well known or to amplify those who are, we can turn this country around. Primary sources can inform understanding and clarify the direction we need to take to support movements toward freedom. Truly listening and deconstructing our own internalized racism and sexism is the only way forward. As we continue to unlearn and relearn, let us listen to those who know the way and follow as they lead.
Juneteenth, Education, and Reparations
This past Saturday was Juneteenth, which although it has been observed by Black communities in America for many years, is now (finally) an official Federal holiday (NY Times). But with every step forward there is often a backlash and the legislation that has been passed in many states across the country in the past few months is just that. These laws would seek to punish teachers who teach about Juneteenth since it relates to the true history of America and not the history (read: mythology) that those who uphold white supremacy would like to have taught in public schools.
This map (Education Week) shows the five bills signed so far and the bills in 20 other states that are currently working their way through legislators, that will restrict what educators can present in history classes. In most cases, the laws are vague, which means that most American history would fall under the punitive umbrella.
The next steps toward justice are not ceremonial, but reparative. In order to move toward that ‘more perfect union’ we hear about all the time, we need to ACTUALLY repair the horrific past of this nation. Passing the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act (H.R.40) would be a start. Passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (S.4263) and the For The People Act (H.R.1) would also help. Legislation to raise the minimum wage and redistribute money to needed services in communities would over policing would also be good steps forward. A holiday is great, but where is the follow up? We elected leaders to lead and they need to step up and do what is right for the future of freedom and equality for all Americans.
What is Juneteenth? by Henry Louis Gates Jr. writing at The Root
Is Juneteenth for Everybody? by Brittney Cooper writing at The Remix
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates writing at The Atlantic
Nashville and Movements for Rights
While we were in Nashville, we had a chance to visit the main branch of the Nashville Public Library, where the special collections are housed. The two main collections showcase the history that Nashville and the State of Tennessee played in the Civil Rights and Women's Suffrage movements.
The branch is situated around the corner from the Woolworth location where lunch counter protests were held during the height of the Civil Rights movement, making the collection even more impactful. As it states on the library site, “the Civil Rights Room is an exhibit and research space” that allows participants to study the history while also immersing in resources.
In tandem with the Votes for Women collection, the library is also displaying the Saints or Monsters: Political Cartoons of the 19th Amendment exhibit. Nashville has a rich history and the library does an excellent job of showcasing the movements while offering additional resources to continue moving forward.
Six decades after freedom rides, activist says work isn’t done by Errin Haines editor-at-large for the 19th*
Stacey Abram’s Won’t Back Down: The Georgia power broker is taking the voting rights fight to the Senate by Jason Johnson writing at Slate
A Sampling of Books You Need To Read
The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
Begin Again: James Baldwin’s American and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Ida: A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching by Paula Giddings
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Thank you for reading the Research Notes Newsletter! Now it’s YOUR turn. Please share your thoughts along with any other questions or suggestions for future research, in the comments. I look forward to lively discourse.