San José State University School of Information hosted its third annual Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Symposium celebrating Black History Month on Wednesday over Zoom.
The symposium featured a variety of panelists who talked about Black creatives and the role libraries play in showcasing Black history in alignment with Black History Month’s 2024 theme, African Americans and the Arts.
Nichelle Hayes, keynote speaker and founding director of the Center for Black Literature and Culture at the Indianapolis Public Library, said having a Black History theme helps to solidify and focus energy on what is going to be done during the year.
“This is actually the ninety-eighth year that we’ve had an annual Black History theme,” Hayes said.
Past and future themes can be accessed at the Association for the Study of African American Life and History website.
Hayes used the symposium to highlight a key figure of Black History Month: Carter G. Woodson.
Woodson is nationally recognized as the father of Black History, according to the National Park Service website.
Before Black History Month was recognized as an official holiday, Black History Week was established in February 1926 by Woodson, according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History website.
Woodson, civic leader Alexander Louis Jackson, and three unknown people established the Association for the Study of African American Life and History organization. This organization helped establish Black History Month in 1976, according to the same website.
“You might say (to) yourself, ‘Why do we need Black History Month at this point? We already know all of the things we need to know, ” Hayes said. “I would say there's always a chance to talk about the things we know and expand our knowledge. ”
Hayes said the Black Arts Movement began in 1965 and ended in 1975.
This movement focused on music, literature, drama and visual arts that Black artists and intellectuals made as the cultural section of the Black Power Movement, according to the National Archives website.
Hayes read two poems “I am a Black Woman” by Mari Evans and “The Idea of Ancestry” by Etheridge Knight at the symposium.
Mari Evans was a poet, playwright and community activist whose poem won a Black Academy of Arts and Letters award.
Etheridge Knight was also a poet whose poem was written while he was in prison.
“I think it’s really important when you’re speaking about poets for you to read their work, so they can speak for themselves,” Hayes said.
Throughout the symposium, several notable Black creatives and their contributions were introduced by panelists.
Joy Doan, SJSU alumna and professor of practice at the University of Tennessee said as a student, she discovered the possibility of bringing artistic practices into library and information science.
Library and information science is a field of study that focuses on the documentation that records stories, memory, history and knowledge, according to the University of Iowa website.
“An exhibit I did in 2015 focused on (jazz musician) Billy Strayhorn,” Doan said. “That is an example of how we can bring curatorial practices along with the arts in our field.”
Dr. Marva DeLoach, panelist and retired academic librarian, educator and author, offered a firsthand account of how libraries categorize information.
“Libraries showcase collections that promote and create African American contributions to literature, music, (and) visual art,” DeLoach said
DeLoach said if anyone is interested in interacting, appreciating, or becoming educated on Black history, it’s important for literature or information to be properly (library) tagged.
Library tagging is when a library uses words or phrases as a way to categorize a book or any other source of information, according to LibraryThing.
“It’s very important as we are describing our records that we are accurate (and) don’t misidentify (information),” DeLoach said. “Because that can cause all kinds of problems for our user.”
DeLoach said classifications of headings in library catalogs can cause major problems when someone is trying to research materials about Black history.
She also said bias of subject headings or stereotyping in headings is a problem with research materials and sources related to Black history.
The Library of Congress has previously used biased and outdated language in its subheadings, according to the John Hopkins University Press website.
When writing subject headings, the Library of Congress used the term “illegal aliens” as a way to address undocumented immigrants. In 2014, Dartmouth College submitted a formal request to get those subject headings revised, according to the Library of Congress website.
DeLoach said these kinds of organizational issues and misidentification cause inconsistency, frustration and even disengagement from potential resource users interested in learning.
“I think people have to be sensitive and not discouraging people, or misrepresenting the richness and diversity of our African American Heritage,” Deloach said.
DeLoach said that there should be library staff training to learn how to properly do cataloging and classification, and also better management of specific African American resources in libraries.
“Black History Month for me is a time to really be intentional,” Hayes said “It’s an entry point for you to come in and learn a little bit about Black history.”
