Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Celebrating Black History Month



Observed annually in the month of February, Black History Month celebrates and honors the achievements and contributions made by African Americans to the cultural, economic, spiritual, and political development of the United States. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, proposed the establishment of “Negro History Week” in February 1926. The week would honor the history and contributions of African Americans to American life. Dr. Woodson chose the second week in February because it coincides with the birthdays of two men of importance to the African American community: Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). In the early 1970s Negro History Week became Black History Week, and in 1976 was expanded to a month-long observance.

Celebrate Black History Month locally by attending events in our area and by checking out the Armacost Library's collections.

Events

Charles Holt in Black Boy, a one-man play. Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at the Orton Center, 7:30PM.


Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, Byron Hurt. Monday, February 18 at the Orton Center, 7:00PM.


The San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation's Black History Parade, Expo and Ball. Saturday, February 2, 2008.


Books

Fiction

Himes, Chester. Cotton Comes to Harlem. New York: Vintage Books, 1965.

Jones, Edward P. The Known World. New York: Amistad, 2003.

Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Knopf, 1973.

Mosley, Walter. Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. New York: Washington Square Press, 1998.

Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York: Harper Perennial, 1998.

Non-Fiction

Appiah, Kwame Anthony and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Baraka, Amiri. Black Music. New York: W. Morrow, 1967.

Conrad, Cecilia. African Americans in the U.S. Economy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

Hooks, Bell. Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press, 1992.

Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1980s. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.

DVDs and Videos

BaadAsssss Cinema (2002)

Color Adjustment (2004)

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Malcolm X (1992)

Movies of Color: Black Southern Cinema (2002)



Image titled "Black Flappers" posted by discoverblackheritage at Flickr

Monday, January 14, 2008

Primary Facts

California’s February 5th primary is fast approaching. Need more information on the candidates or propositions? Want to register to vote or find a local polling place? Here are some sites that can help!

California Voter’s Guide
http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/
Provides information on California’s propositions as well as statements from each Presidential candidate.

California Voter Registration
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vr.htm
Find out how to register to vote in California along with voter registration deadlines.

CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide
http://innovation.cq.com/primaries
Provides a primary map, information on the number of delegates from each state, campaign finance information.

League of Women Voters
http://www.vote411.org/
Find out how to register to vote anywhere in the United States or how to vote absentee. Also provides information on ballot measures from across the United States and much more.

NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1102
Lists dates for each state primary along with candidate profiles.

Polling Stations for San Bernardino County
http://gis1.sbcounty.gov/sbcwebs/vrlookup/search.asp
Find out where you can go to vote on primary night.

Project Vote Smart
http://www.vote-smart.org/
Locates information on voter registration and ballot measures from across the United States.


The library also owns books written by the candidates.

Hillary Clinton
HQ792.U5 C57 1996
Clinton, Hillary. It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.


E887.C55 A3 2003b
Clinton, Hillary. Living History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.


John McCain

E840.8.M467 A3 1999
McCain, John. Faith of My Fathers. New York: Random House, 1999.


Barack Obama
Popular 1352
Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the
American Dream. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006.


E185.97.O23 A3 2004
Obama, Barack. Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.
New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.





Special thanks to Bill Kennedy for providing suggested websites