It is Black History Month! If you are on the Sioux City campus, don't forget to stop by and view our display! Cant make it on campus? Good news! We have a books on display page right here! This page will show you all the books we have on display!
In celebration of Black History Month, we also have a celebratory guide here. Please take a moment to look around it, learn a few things, watch a few videos, and celebrate with us.
Book Review- Librarian Morgan: Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot
Black History Month is upon us and what better way to start off the month than to tell everyone about Black AF History.
I read this book over the holiday break, and I was pretty excited to see what I didn't know. Let me tell you… I didn't know a few things (gasp!). What I was expecting was a lot of cold, hard facts with a lot of dates. You get that, but what you also get is a lot of humor with clear story driven through narration. On the other side of that, this book read like a podcast. I, in my however many years of reading, have never read a book that sounded like someone was talking to me for hours on end. Some were close. But none were this well done.
Starting from before the discovery of what would eventually become the United States and ending with race in (nearly) recent political parties (well actually… it ends with a discussion of chicken bog vs. perlo), this book gives someone just a temperature gauge of American history with Black people finally as the protagonists.
The chapters are broken down in digestible segments with “pop quizzes” at the end to provoke thoughts and let everything sink in. Between chapters are deeper dives into Harriot's own life or further into historical figures, some almost forgotten in historical time. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who has the slightest interest to learn about our history.
The only thing I was like “wait…hold up…rewind that” was the dinner vs supper debate turned nudge nudge, poke poke joke. I am a white Midwestern person who grew up and and created two distinct versions of dinner and supper in my head. Dinner can be a fancy lunch or something fancy at evening eating time. Supper is something you eat at night all the time. Whatever definitions I created, they are wrong, and they are white. I've done small, small, small research with the people around me. Since it is a regional and a small vs big city thing, I think we might have the only thing in this book I'll ever say (and I never say this)…. agree to disagree.
WITcha Listening to
Kendra recommends the podcast You're Wrong About by Sarah Marshall. Each week, Marshall “reconsiders a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination”. Librarian Morgan's favorite episode is “Lizzie Borden with Princess Weekes”.
Don't forget that we are staring a department and club book club! anyone can join and take apart in the discussion. Take a look here and don't forget to tell others!
Thank you for joining us! We'll see you again in the next one!
