Dr. Condoleezza Rice: A Leader in Education and in Politics

Department of State. (2005, February). Condoleezza Rice. Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Condoleezza_Rice_cropped.jpg 

 

“The essence of America - that which really unites us - is not ethnicity, or nationality or religion - it is an idea - and what an idea it is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do great things.”

Dr. Condoleezza Rice made history when she became the first African American woman to be Secretary of State for the United States. She made her mark in both academia and government prior to her government service with President George W. Bush’s administration though. She was the Provost at Stanford University from 1993-1999, and prior to that she taught at the university. Dr. Rice also served with President George H.W. Bush’s administration. Currently, Dr. Rice is a professor at Stanford University, and she is on the board at companies like Dropbox, C3, and Makena Capital. 

You can follow Dr. Rice on Twitter: @CondoleezzaRice and learn more about her here: 

Stanford Faculty Homepage 

Biography.com 

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Sources:
 Condoleezza Rice Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/condoleezza_rice_453866

Stanford University. (2018) Condoleezza Rice, PhD Biography. Retrieved from: https://tec.fsi.stanford.edu/people/condoleezza_rice 

Curtis Mayfield: Influencial Musician

Image source: This Is My Country album art. (1968, November). Retrieved from: http://www.curtismayfield.com/photos.html?ga=15&pg=2

"Some people think we don’t have the right to say it’s my country. Before they give in they’d rather fuss and fight than say it’s my country. I’ve paid three hundred years or more of slave-driving sweat and welts on my back. This is my country.” From This Is My Country. [1968].

When Illinois senator Barack Obama walked on to the stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, a Curtis Mayfield song, “Pushing,” ushered him to the stage. Curtis Mayfield made music by writing songs, performing with bands like the Roosters and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, The Impressions, and as a solo artist. According to Mr. Mayfield’s website, his song, “People Get Ready,” has been recorded by over 100 artists. A tragic accident in 1990 paralyzed Mayfield from the neck down, but Mr. Mayfield did not stop. He recorded his final album, “New World Order,” despite his paralysis. Mr. Mayfield passed away in 1999.

To learn more about Mr. Mayfield and his remarkable life, see the following websites:

Curtis Mayfield 

The Impressions, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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Sources: Curtis Mayfield Estate. (2018). Curtis Mayfield Biography. Retrieved from: http://www.curtismayfield.com/biography.html

O’Brien, G., ed. (2012). Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 18^th ed. New York: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 855.

Nobel Prize Winner: Toni Morrison

Source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C49oC_bUYAA1iao.jpg

“When you know your name, you should hang on to it, for unless it is noted down and remembered, it will die when you do.” From Song of Solomon. [1977]

Ms. Morrison, the first African American (man or woman) to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, won the prestigious award in 1993. Educated at Howard and Cornell universities, Ms. Morrison published her first novel, The Bluest Eye, in 1970.  She has worked as an editor, professor, and a writer, and she has won several other awards and accolades including: the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved, the National Book Foundation Medal, the National Humanities Medal, and the Coretta Scott King Award.

For additional information about Ms. Morrison, see the following sites:

Biography.com 

Nobel Prize website

The library has several works by Ms. Morrison, and a biography of Ms. Morrison, called, Toni Morrison: A Biography; 813.54 L693t

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Sources:

Li, S. (2010). Toni Morrison: A Biography. Denver, CO: Greenwood Press.

O’Brien, G., (Ed.). (2012). Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 18th ed. New York: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 830

Congressman John Lewis: Civil Rights Activist

John Lewis addresses students at T.C. Williams High School on Monday, November 16, 2015

“Never give up. Never give in. Never become hostile... Hate is too big a burden to bear.”

Congressman John Lewis heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak on the radio about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and decided to get involved with the civil rights movement. Congressman Lewis participated in sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, was chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and co-led the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, in 1965. Congressman Lewis has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1986. March: Book Three, a graphic novel about the Civil Rights movement written by Congressman Lewis, Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, won several awards last year. http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/march-book-three/945

To find out more about Congressman Lewis:
Congressman John Lewis’s official site
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Sources:
John Lewis Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved January 25, 2018, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_lewis_810320

Lewis, J. (2018). John Lewis. Retrieved from: https://johnlewis.house.gov/john-lewis

Image Source:  John Lewis addresses students at T.C. Williams High School on Monday, November 16, 2015. Retrieved from: https://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_1484w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2015/11/16/Local/Images/04lewis1117A1447698851.jpg?uuid=o6C72IyQEeWTTKNpyAgiwg

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Amanda Gorman, First National Youth Poet Laureate



Image from: YoungArts. (2016, March 7). Amanda Gorman, Writing/Selection from Novel & Short Story: 2016 YoungArts Los Angeles.   Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/zM4En012IJo


“I did a lot of sitting back and thinking about what I wanted for myself and what I wanted for my country: more unity, more support for the arts and more opportunities for young writers from marginalized groups.” From New York Times article, “How Amanda Gorman Became the Nation’s First Youth Poet Laureate.” (2017, November 3).


Ms. Gorman, a sophomore at Harvard University, became the first National Youth Poet Laureate in April 2017. She served as the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate in 2014 and the Youth Poet Laureate of the West before being named to the National Youth Poet Laureate post. She also heads up an organization for student writers known as One Pen One Page.

Visit the sites below to find out more about Ms. Gorman and the National Youth Poet Laureate program.

AmandaGorman, Inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate 

AmandaGorman Named National Youth Poet Laureate

How AmandaGorman Became the Nation’s First Youth Poet Laureate    

NationalYouth Poet Laureate 

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Sources: Hawgood, A. (2017, November 3). How Amanda Gorman Became the Nation’s First Youth Poet Laureate. New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/style/amanda-gorman-first-youth-poet-laureate.html

Holmes, A. (2017, July 25). Amanda Gorman, Inaugural National Youth Poet Laureate [web log post]. From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at the Library of Congress. Retrieved from: https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2017/07/amanda-gorman-inaugural-national-youth-poet-laureate/

Black History Month: President Barack Obama

We Are One People

Image source: C-SPAN. (2004, July 27). Senator Barack Obama 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Speech. Retrieved from: https://www.c-span.org/video/?182718-3/senator-barack-obama-2004-democratic-national-convention-keynote-speech 

 “We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.” –From keynote address at Democratic National Convention. [2004]

Four years before he was elected President of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama spoke these impactful words. President Obama was the first African American elected to be the President of the United States. Prior to serving as President, Mr. Obama was an Illinois state senator from 1997-2004, and a United States Senator from 2004-2008. Mr. Obama was also the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Want to know more about President Obama?

PresidentBarack Obama’s official White House page 

SenatorBarack Obama’s official Senate page 

Barack ObamaKeynote Speech at 2004 Democratic National Convention 

Black History Month: Mildred Taylor

Image source: https://melinmidlothian.blogspot.com/2014/04/t-is-fortolstoy.html

“Baby, we have no choice of what color we’re born or who our parents are or whether we’re rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we’re here.” From Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, 1976.

The book, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, written by Ms. Mildred Taylor and from which this quote came, won the John Newbery Medal for distinguished children’s literature in 1977. In addition to the Newbery Medal, Ms. Taylor has won four Coretta Scott King Awards and a Boston-Globe-Horn Book Award. Ms. Taylor continues to write and lives in Colorado with her family.  

Visit the websites below to learn more about Ms. Mildred Taylor.

MildredTaylor’s author page 

Mississippi Writer’s Page

The SU Lexington library has this edition of the book:

Black History Month: Eric Holder, Jr.

Graythen, C. (2012, June 28). Attorney General Eric Holder addresses the media following a vote in the House of Representatives at the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Louisiana office in New Orleans, LA. Retrieved from: http://ktla.com/2017/01/04/bracing-for-trump-california-taps-ex-u-s-atty-gen-eric-holder-as-lead-litigator/

 

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. Though race related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion . . . we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race.” - Remarks at the Department of Justice African American History Month Program, February 18, 2009.

Mr. Eric Holder, a former Attorney General of the United States from 2009-2015, and the first African American to hold the positions of Deputy Attorney General and Attorney General, spoke the words above almost nine years ago. His words continue to be relevant today.

To learn more about Mr. Holder, or if you want to read the entirety of the speech he gave on February 18, 2009, check out the following websites: 

Department of Justice

Biography.com

Speech given at the Department of JusticeAfrican American History Month Program, February 18, 2009.

Black History month: Words Matter

Black Words Matter

Words matter. Words can inspire and encourage. To celebrate Black History Month, the Sullivan University Library in Lexington has a display of quotes written or spoken by African American men and women. While the words in these quotes come from different periods in U.S. history, they all reflect these common themes: justice, dignity, and awareness.

In addition to the library’s display, the librarians plan to post quotes from African Americans on our blog each school day.

We invite you to the library to see the display.

Freadom to Read: The Joy Luck Club

Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club was challenged at a high school because it had “explicit” and “inappropriate material.”

The book was made into a movie in 1993, and here is an image of the movie poster.

Source:  R. Doyle. Books Challenged or Banned in 2004-2005. 

Freadom to Read: The Giver

The book, The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, won the Newbery Medal in 1994, but it has been banned and challenged because of references to various forms of death.


A movie based on The Giver came to theaters in 2014, and featured Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, and Katie Holmes.

Official movie poster

Freadom to Read: Freakonomics

In 2006, a school board member in Illinois challenged several titles, including Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner and The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan, because these books clashed with her beliefs.

The Sullivan University library has both of these titles at the library. Stop by and talk with one of the librarians if you want to borrow one of these books, and stay tuned to the library's blog the next two weeks for more information about banned and challenged books.


Source: Doyle, R. Books Challenged or Banned in 2006-2007. Retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/banned/bannedbooksweek/ideasandresources/free_downloads/2007shortlist.pdf

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Banned Books Week 2017-Celebrate the Right to Read

Image copyright by Roger Roth, 2006

Each year the Sullivan University Library joins the American Library Association in observing Banned Books Week. This annual celebration of our right to access books and materials without censorship commemorates the most basic freedom in a democratic society—the freedom to read freely. To help celebrate the freedom to read, the Sullivan University librarians invite everyone to come and see the Banned Books Week display in the library, participate in the Banned Books Week scavenger hunt, and to read some banned or challenged books.

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All American Eclipse

Source: https://www.space.com/35080-total-solar-eclipse-2017-path-maps.html

Today is the day for the "All-American" eclipse. For the first time since 1918, the entirety of the eclipse will be and American coast-to-coast event. The eclipse here in Lexington will begin roughly at 1:00 p.m. and end around 4:00 p.m. The maximum occlusion of the sun will occur at 2:30. Click here for more information: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/lexington-fayette

Be sure to use ISO certified glasses to view the eclipse directly. There are alternatives as well: pinhole devices, watching a live stream, using your smartphone's camera--watch the screen, not the sun!

Local live stream, provided by WKYT: http://www.wkyt.com/eclipse

For other eclipse resources check here: https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/education/

Remember: DON'T LOOK AT THE SUN!

via GIPHY

 

Manners and Raspberries

Today, July 19, 2017, is National Stick Out Your Tongue today.

Instead of sticking out your tongue, trying having a different kind of fun with the day. Stop by the library to read the (seriously hilarious) book titled  Manners Mash-Up: A Goofy Guide to Good Behavior, which is edited by Tedd Arnold. The book is found in the juvenile fiction section with the call # JF A. One of the librarians will gladly help you find the book if you want to borrow it from the library.