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Tuesday, July 6, 2021 | View in browser
Reset is the official monthly newsletter of Evanston Public Library's Collection Advisory Committee of Black Evanstonians. This committee is dedicated to advising EPL on purchases, selection, displays, and all aspects of collection development. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter.
Summer is officially here so why not find some cool reads for these hot days? The Evanston Public Library is visiting block parties and outdoor events all summer. Stop by to pick up some free books, or join the 30-Day Summer Reading Challenge.
Local writer, teacher, and advocate for excellent Black teaching Abdel Shakur sat down with us for a quick look at the history of Evanston's beaches.
Reset: Can you give us a little history and tell us about how this policy was used to block marginalized residents in the past?
Abdel Shakur: In the early 1930s, the community of Black Evanston was growing in size and political power. Folks were starting businesses, buying homes, educating their children, electing their first council member, and enjoying the beach. All despite White resistance. While Chicago used racial terrorism to enforce beach segregation, Evanston simply renovated a section of beach, charged a token to pay for it, and made tokens only available to White residents. Black Evanstonians were relegated to the "free beach". That makes tokens a literal artifact of racism and unjustifiable for anyone concerned with equity.
Reset: Recently the city determined that the beaches would be free Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. The original proposal was for the beaches to be free seven days a week. What does it mean to have the beaches free weekends only?
Abdel Shakur: Beaches are not free seven days a week because we have to come to a consensus that the cost, financially and in White discomfort, is worth immediately dismantling systemic racism in our community. To paraphrase Malcolm X, if you stick a knife in my back, "progress" is not pulling it out six inches. Progress is real healing and that's not something that can take place three days out of the week. The path to healing is free beaches for everyone, all the time.
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Founded in June of 2018 by award winning authors Walter Mosley, Gigi Pandian, and Kellye Garrett, Crime Writers of Color is a group of over 300 of today and tomorrow’s crime writers of color. Listen to their podcast, check out their Speakers directory, and be sure to look at their list of recent and upcoming releases for 2021. If you like murder and mystery stories, this is the place to go.
What's new and being released this month? Check out some of the latest titles
Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation by John Robert Lewis
Congressman John Lewis was a paragon of the Civil Rights Movement and political leadership for decades. A hero we won't soon forget, Lewis was a beacon of hope and a model of humility whose invocation to "good trouble" continues to inspire millions across our nation. In his last months on earth, even while battling cancer, he dedicated time to share his memories, beliefs, and advice, exclusively immortalized in these pages as a message to the generations to come. (book, ebook)
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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
The great scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, once wrote about the Problem of race in America, and what he called 'Double Consciousness," a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois's words all too well. Ailey is reared in the north in the City but spends summers in the small Georgia town of Chicasetta, where her mother's family has lived since their ancestors arrived from Africa in bondage. From an early age, Ailey fights a battle for belonging that's made all the more difficult by a hovering trauma, as well as the whispers of women, her mother, Belle, her sister, Lydia, and a maternal line reaching back two centuries, that urge Ailey to succeed in their stead. (book, ebook)
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Nadiya Bakes: Over 100 Must-try Recipes for Breads, Cakes, Biscuits, Pies, and More by Nadiya Hussain
The host of the beloved Netflix series Time to Eat and Nadiya Bakes and winner of The Great British Baking Show shares more than 100 simple and achievable recipes for cakes, cookies, breads, tarts, and puddings that will become staples in your home. From Raspberry Amaretti Biscuits and Key Lime Cupcakes to Cheat's Sourdough and Spiced Squash Strudel, Nadiya has created an ultimate baking resource for just about every baked good that will entice beginner bakers and experienced pastry makers alike. (book, ebook)
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Evanston Public Library, in partnership with Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre and ASE, the Chicago affiliate of the National Association of Black Storytellers, is presenting a workshop series on the art of storytelling. Young adults ages 16-19 and elders age 65 and over will partner together to listen and share stories across generations and cultures. The series will offer an opportunity to heal, share, and close the divide across cultures.
Beginning the week of July 12, the series will run through the week of August 16. Learn more and complete this survey to help us gauge community interest.
There are some fantastic podcasts out there. Got a long commute? Time on your hands? Then check out the following:
Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James (Black Leopard, Red Wolf, A Brief History of Seven Killings, etc.) and his editor, Jake Morrissey, discuss the (dead) authors they love and hate. Sometimes they’ll agree, sometimes they won’t, but in every episode, they’ll tell you what they think – uncensored and with no holds barred. (That’s why the authors have to be dead.)
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New to Kanopy: The Must See Films You Shouldn't Miss
Remember that you can stream all of these films through the library's Kanopy subscription, absolutely for free. View this tutorial to show you how. Try it today!
Clemency
As she prepares to execute another inmate, prison warden Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates.Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Nominated for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and Best Female Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
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I Will Follow
Maye is a success. Hot career. Hot boyfriend. But when her world is turned upside down by tragedy, she must struggle to keep her balance. Hailed by critic Roger Ebert as "... one of the best films I've seen about the loss of a loved one," Ava DuVernay's directorial debut I WILL FOLLOW chronicles a day in the life of a women at a crossroads, and the twelve people who help her move forward into a brave, new world.
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Todrick Hall: Behind the Curtain
Todrick Hall launches his most ambitious project yet: the full-scale original musical, Straight Outta Oz. From a small town in Texas to big-time show business, comes an inspiring documentary of grit, perseverance and the redemptive power of art. With limited time and budget the odds are against him, but Todrick's passion and his team of talented performers overcome all obstacles to bring this story to the world. From award-winning director, Katherine Fairfax Wright.
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What Is Our Committee Reading Now? An Anya Tanyavutti Reading List
Evanston Public Library's Collection Advisory Group member Deshana Newman recommends the following books that you should really check out this month:
For Children
- Going Home, Coming Home by Truong Tran (book)
- I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, ill. Gordon James (book, ebook, e-audiobook)
- Lulu and the Duck in the Park by Hilary McKay, ill. Priscilla Lamont (book, ebook)
- Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel (the Dyamonde Daniel series) by Nikki Grimes (book, Playaway, ebook, e-audiobook)
- The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, ill. Kadir Nelson (book, ebook)
- The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin (book, ebook, e-audiobook)
- Zoe in Wonderland by Brenda Woods (book, e-audiobook)
For Adults
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