UNL’s Institute for Ethnic Studies, in response to the 2014 killing of Michael Brown and the subsequent civil rights struggle in Ferguson, Missouri, will donate over 600 books to the Ferguson Municipal Public Library this week. The library served as a refuge to many children and adults during the peak of the unrest.
The Institute’s book drive, which ran throughout the 2014-15 academic year, collected donations at red boxes across campus in such locations as the Writing Center in Andrews Hall, Athletics at Memorial Stadium, and the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center. Indigo Bridge Books in the Haymarket, an independent bookstore committed to issues of social justice, also partnered with Ethnic Studies to collect books for the effort.
“People from across UNL and Lincoln were incredibly generous,” said Dr. Joy Castro, director of the Institute, noting that the greatest outpouring of donated books came from Athletics, where former Huskers' Associate Athletic Director of Leadership, Student-Athlete Recruitment and Diversity Initiatives Jamie Williams was an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign. “We loved how people from different areas came together,” Castro said. “In Ethnic Studies, we know that education doesn’t stop when class ends. It extends out into the community, and it’s a seven-days-a-week endeavor. Libraries embody that spirit.”
UNL professors often engage in community outreach in Lincoln and Omaha with groups such as the NAACP, the Malone Center, and more. “We couldn’t travel to Ferguson to participate directly in the protests,” said Dr. James Garza, the Institute’s associate director, “so supporting the library seemed like a natural way for us, as educators, to express our solidarity.” The donated books include classics of African American literature such as W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk and Toni Morrison’s Sula along with more recent titles such as Tayari Jones’s Silver Sparrow and Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Wench, in addition to politically relevant nonfiction such as Killing Rage: Ending Racism by bell hooks and The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. Children’s and YA literature, mass-market thrillers, and contemporary nonfiction were other genres people donated.
UNL’s Institute for Ethnic Studies is an academic unit in the College of Arts and Sciences that focuses on issues of race, ethnicity, and social justice. Founded at the university in 1972, it offers majors, minors, and a graduate specialization as well as a series of co-curricular events open to the public, including a recent open forum on the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which drew over 200 people, and a colloquium featuring four professors of color explaining the obstacles and choices they faced in pursuing careers in academia.
Regarding the book drive, “we were so moved by the generosity people showed,” Castro said. “This gift from the people of UNL and Lincoln will have a tangible positive impact. Books change lives, and these books can circulate among the library’s patrons for years.”
Below: James Garza, Dawne Curry, Joy Castro, Jeannette Jones, and Beligh Ben Taleb stand next to the stack of books.
Photos courtesy Craig Chandler.
