February - Black History Month - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Monthly Observations - Central Louisiana Technical Community College Library at Central Louisiana Technical College

About Black History Month

About the Black History Month eBook Display

The CLTCC Library in conjunction with the CLTCC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce invites you to celebrate Black History Month through a curated virtual display of ebooks written by Black writers and/or about the Black experience.

About Black History Month

Established in 1926 by noted African American historian Carter G. Woodson, Black History Month evolved to become a month-long event in 1976. February was selected because Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln have birthdays during the month. The annual event provides an opportunity to learn about the history, traditions, and contributions of Black Americans.

The theme for 2024 is African Americans and the Arts, and "explores the key influence African Americans have had in the fields of 'visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression.'". Read more about this year’s theme at Asalh: Black History Themes.

About the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion eBook Collection

According to LOUIS Libraries, "This perpetual access custom collection of eBooks was created by the Electronic Resources Working Group in conjunction with EBSCO for LOUIS member institutions. This collection enhances the representation of diverse cultures and viewpoints in library collections including Black Americans, LGBTQIA+, religious minorities, Indigenous peoples, Asian Americans, women, and more."

Below is a selection of materials that we've curated to help you learn more about the Black experience in America.

To access the eBooks:

On the "Catalog" tab type your search term(s) in the search bar
Click "Search" or hit "Enter"
When prompted, enter your LoLA username and password
On the left hand side, scroll down, and select "eBooks"
To read an ebook, click on either PDF Full Text or EPUB Full Text

If you cannot remember your LoLA username and password, you can reset it by following the steps on the LoLA homepage.

Recommended eBooks

From the CLTCC Library Databases

23 freely accessible Black history collections
A selection of image and primary source collections on Artstor and JSTOR that focus on Black history.
Art as "Talking Back": Louise Jefferson's Life and Legacy of Counter-Mapping.
Louise Jefferson, the focus of this article, represents the intersection of two neglected cartographic cultures – women and African Americans – in the mid-twentieth century. Her work as an artist – illustrator, photographer, and cartographer – as well as her life story demonstrates that maps are more than we have conventionally defined them to be. This article outlines a brief history of African American and feminist geographies and examines the more commonly accepted functions of maps and counter-maps, illuminating lesser-known cartographic functions. Building upon these definitions and functions, it shows how both Louise Jefferson's life and selections of her works constitute counter-mapping, a means of "talking back" against racial exclusion and affirming the value of African American lives and histories. Individual pieces of Jefferson's artwork that would not normally be labelled as cartography are examined to illustrate the different functions and appearances of such maps as anti-racist identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local Events and History

Whitney Plantation
Whitney Plantation (legal name The Whitney Institute) is a non-profit museum dedicated to the history of the Whitney Plantation, which operated from 1752-1975 and produced indigo, sugar, and rice as its principal cash crops. The museum preserves over a dozen historical structures, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Whitney Plantation Historic District.
The Central Louisiana African American Culture & Heritage Center Grand Opening
Portrait Gallery Unveiling
Grand Opening
Saturday, February 24

Podcasts

1619
“1619” is a New York Times audio series, hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, that examines the long shadow of American slavery.
Black Girl Songbook
Studio Noize is a space for us to celebrate the Black creatives that are redefining the art world. You learn so much about an artists and their art by having a conversation with them. I always get charged up and excited after those studio visits. It doesn’t matter if it’s a superstar artists like Deborah Roberts or Bisa Butler, or a legend in the game like David Driskell or Kevin “WAK” Williams, or an emerging artist doing their first solo show. Every artist has a story behind what they do. We are sharing a creative energy. You feel it in their air. You get to take some of that inspiration and passion back with you to your studio. I want everybody to get that excitement and to keep motivated to make their best art.
The Black History Buff Podcast
Heard in over 100 countries the Black History Buff podcast is a fun and thrilling journey through time. Covering the full historical tapestry of the African Diaspora, you’ll hear tales covering everything from African Samurai to pistol-wielding poets.

More than just a podcast, the show is a bridge that links communities throughout the African diaspora and enlightens and empowers its friends.
Black History Year
Learning your history makes you - and your people - stronger. As Black people, we know we’re left out of the history books. That the media images are skewed. That we need access to experts, information and ideas so we can advance our people.

Black History Year connects you to the history, thinkers, and activists that are left out of the mainstream conversations. You may not agree with everything you hear, but we’re always working toward one goal: uniting for the best interest of Black people worldwide.
Historically Black
Objects hold history. They're evocative of stories stamped in time. As part of The Washington Post's coverage of the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture, people submitted dozens of objects that make up their own lived experiences of black history, creating a "people's museum" of personal objects, family photos and more.

The Historically Black podcast brings those objects and their stories to life through interviews, archival sound and music. The Washington Post and APM Reports are proud to collaborate in presenting these rich personal histories, along with hosts Keegan-Michael Key, Roxane Gay, Issa Rae and Another Round hosts Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton.
Louder Than A Riot
Hip-hop emerged from the voices of the unheard. But freedom doesn't ring the same for everyone. Inside all corners of the culture, Black women and queer folk have dealt with the same oppression the music was built to escape. Season 2 of Louder Than A Riot examines who hip-hop marginalizes, and how misogynoir — the specific racist misogyny against Black women — is embedded into the fabric of the culture that we love.

From Rico Nasty facing harassment from toxic fans, to Saucy Santana's unapologetically femme aesthetics in a queerphobic industry, to the assault case that put Megan Thee Stallion's image on trial, each episode of Louder Than A Riot unpacks the unspoken rules of rap that discriminate against a select few and have held the entire culture back.

Hosted by NPR Music's Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael, Louder Than A Riot confronts power from every angle – from the power the genre wields over its artists, to the power plays that its rulebreakers take in order to get heard. In the midst of a so-called Renaissance for women in rap, these stories reveal a rot at the core of the culture that reflects how voices, bodies, and rights are still policed in America.
Smithsonian: Black History Month February 2024: African Americans and the Arts
Celebrate Black History Month with Smithsonian events, resources, exhibitions, and podcasts. The 2024 theme is "African Americans and the Arts" spanning the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, cultural movements, and more.
Still Processing
Wesley Morris and J Wortham are working it out in this show about culture. That means television, film, books, music — but also the culture of work, dating, the internet and how those fit together.
Studio Noize
Studio Noize is a space for us to celebrate the Black creatives that are redefining the art world. You learn so much about an artists and their art by having a conversation with them. I always get charged up and excited after those studio visits. It doesn’t matter if it’s a superstar artists like Deborah Roberts or Bisa Butler, or a legend in the game like David Driskell or Kevin “WAK” Williams, or an emerging artist doing their first solo show. Every artist has a story behind what they do. We are sharing a creative energy. You feel it in their air. You get to take some of that inspiration and passion back with you to your studio. I want everybody to get that excitement and to keep motivated to make their best art.
Witness History
Black history Podcast

Online Resources

Websites, Virtual Displays, and Online Museums

ASALH: 98th Annual Black History Month Festival
African American art is infused with African, Caribbean, and the Black American lived experiences. In the fields of visual and performing arts, literature, fashion, folklore, language, film, music, architecture, culinary and other forms of cultural expression the African American influence has been paramount. African American artists have used art to preserve history and community memory as well as for empowerment. Artistic and cultural movements such as the New Negro, Black Arts, Black Reniassance, hip-hop, and Afrofuturism, have been led by people of African descent and set the standard for popular trends around the world. In 2024, we examine the varied history and life of African American arts and artisans.
In celebrating the entire history of African Americans and the arts, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) puts into the national spotlight the richness of the past and present with an eye towards what the rest of the twentieth-first century will bring. ASALH dedicates its 98th Annual Black History Theme to African Americans and the arts.
History.com: Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history.
National Archives: Black Arts Movement (1965-1975)
The Black Arts Movement was a Black nationalism movement that focused on music, literature, drama, and the visual arts made up of Black artists and intellectuals. This was the cultural section of the Black Power movement, in that its participants shared many of the ideologies of Black self-determination, political beliefs, and African American culture.

The Black Arts Movement started in 1965 when poet Amiri Baraka [LeRoi Jones] established the Black Arts Repertory Theater in Harlem, New York, as a place for artistic expression. Artists associated with this movement include Audre Lorde, Ntozake Shange, James Baldwin, Gil Scott-Heron, and Thelonious Monk. Records at the National Archives related to the Black Arts Movement primarily focus on individual artists and their interaction with various Federal agencies.
National Gallery of Art: 16 Black Artists to Know
National Museum of African American History & Culture: Celebrate Black History Month 2024
Art as a Platform for Social Justice.

African American artists — poets, writers, visual artists, and dancers — have historically served as change agents through their crafts.

Drawn from their ancestors' ancient rites of passage and the shared hopes of liberty, Black artists continue to fuse the rhythmic cadence of creative expressions with the pulsating beats of progress. Our museum celebrates Black History Month 2024 by highlighting the "art of resistance" and the artists who used their crafts to uplift the race, speak truth to power and inspire a nation.
PBS Teachers | Celebrating Black History & Culture
This collection is curated to showcase Black excellence through contributions, achievements, and ideas across subjects and eras. These resources aim to inspire educators to intentionally include Black stories in all curricula, and use PBS LearningMedia as a tool in doing so.

PBS is celebrating Black History Month by throwing a Block Party! Throughout the month of February, stream new and beloved programs celebrating Black excellence.
A Proclamation on National Black History Month, 2024
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Black History Month 2024
OMH is committed to Advancing Better Health Through Better Understanding for Black and African American individuals and communities by ensuring connections to culturally appropriate healthcare services, information, and resources. When patients are provided with culturally and linguistically appropriate information, they are better able to create healthier outcomes for themselves and their communities.

Instagram

Profiles of Resilience
This is a project that explores & celebrates African American contributions to American history.
www.rahimrasul.com/profiles-of-resilience