From the Library Director
Sign photographed on the wall surrounding the White House at Black Lives Matter Plaza.
When I was attending Arlington Public Schools in the 1960s and early 1970s (Yorktown High School Class of 1972), I didn’t learn about Juneteenth, the date commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. I didn’t learn about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, either. And the study of literature by African-American authors had only just begun with works like “Blues for Mister Charlie” by James Baldwin.
As Director of Arlington Public Library, I have an opportunity each day to ensure dates in our history like those cited above are recognized and understood through our collections and programs and through modeling the Library’s values of acceptance and inclusion.
From time to time, we have created music playlists to capture a moment. Many of you are familiar with my annual holiday playlist. When the pandemic hit, we created “Dancing with Myself: Playlist for a Pandemic.”
Now, with conversations about race front and center across the nation, we turn again to music.
Music heals, music unites, and music can change minds.
Black Lives Matter Plaza, June 7.
Protesters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, June 6.
The late great First Lady of Soul, Aretha Franklin, who knew something about music, once said, “Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening.”
So with those words in mind ... press play and play it loud and proud.
Diane K.
