Author: Rachel V. L. Jones

Every year, the American Libraries Association celebrates Banned Books Week to promote reading and intellectual freedom. This year’s theme is “Let Freedom Read.”

Banned Books Week brings together librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types in shared support of the freedom to publish, read, and express ideas, even those some consider taboo.

By focusing on efforts across the country to restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal in libraries and schools.

In our current climate of political polarization, librarians are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago.  Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQ+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Celebrate Banned Books Week with the City Tech Library. Exercise your reading rights and check out a banned book! We have many “banned books” in our collection, and a librarian can help you find one.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month is celebrated each year in June. Pride Month recognizes the importance of the LGBTQ+ community in American history and culture. People celebrate Pride with parades, dances, parties, concerts, and other events. Of course, people celebrate Pride in quieter ways too, like reading.

The City Tech offers an extensive catalog of Ebooks, with hundreds of books on all sorts of LGBTQ+ subjects. These Ebooks can be read online or downloaded (with some restrictions).  Here are just a few of the available books.

Gender Pioneers: A Celebration of Transgender, Non-Binary and Intersex Icons
Showcasing the diversity of gender identities and expressions that have existed in all cultures alongside developments from recent years, the extraordinary stories in this book highlight the achievements and legacies of those who have fought to be themselves, whatever their gender. From activists, soldiers and historical leaders through to pirates, actors and artists, this book explores the life and times of over fifty trans and intersex trailblazers in their fight for equality, acceptance and change. Poignant, educational and empowering, these are the gender pioneers everyone needs to know about.

Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities
Pushing the narrative around non-binary identities further than ever before, this powerful collection of essays represents the breadth of non-binary lives, across the boundaries of race, class, age, sexuality, faith and more. Non-binary people share stories of their intersecting lives; how it feels to be non-binary and neurodiverse, the challenges of being a non-binary pregnant person, the joy of reaching gender euphoria. This thought-provoking anthology shows that there is no right or wrong way to be non-binary.

Queer: a Graphic History
Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele illuminate the histories of queer thought and LGBTQ+ action in this groundbreaking non-fiction graphic novel. From identity politics and gender roles to privilege and exclusion, Queer explores how we came to view sex, gender and sexuality in the ways that we do; how these ideas get tangled up with our culture and our understanding of biology, psychology and sexology; and how these views have been disputed and challenged.

To Be a Trans Man: Our Stories of Transition, Acceptance and Joy
In this illuminating and radically honest book, Ezra Woodger interviews trans men and transmasculine people to interrogate what masculinity is and what it means to be a man. Covering a wide range of topics, from dealing with judgement and expectations, both external and internal, to the experience of gender euphoria, finding a community and the growth and openness that trans-inclusive spaces can provide, the stories in this book highlight the power of being true to who you are.

It’s Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar. In 2023, it runs from March 22 to April 21. Ramadan celebrates the divine revelations of the Quran to the prophet Muhammad.

Ramadan is a period of fasting and spiritual practice. During the month, almost 2 billion Muslim people around the world will abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk. Some will wake up before sunrise to eat a small meal, called suhoor, before the fast begins. When the day’s fast ends, Muslims celebrate with a festive meal, called iftar. Traditionally, a date is eaten to break the fast.

Ramadan is also a time when Muslims focus on religious and compassionate practices such as reading the Quran, giving more to charity, and spending time with family and friends. Many Muslims continue with their daily routines, going to school and work despite fasting. Many also gather together to say special Ramadan prayers and Quran recitations at night.

Ramadan concludes with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the Feast of Fast-Breaking. Muslims dress up, adorn their hands with henna, and decorate their homes. Eid al-Fitr includes special prayers and meals with friends and relatives, and gifts are often exchanged. This year, the three-day celebration of Eid al-Fitr will begin at sundown on April 21.

Want to learn more about Ramadan and Islam? The City Tech Library has some great ebooks to check out:

In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad

Islam Explained: Essential reading for anyone who wants to know more about Islam

Towards Understanding Islam

Women in Islam : What the Qur’an and Sunnah Say

Ramadan Mubarak!

Black History Month is observed in the United States annually in February. President Ford declared the first national observation of Black History Month in 1976, saying “In the Bicentennial year of our Independence, we can review with admiration the impressive contributions of black Americans to our national life and culture… I urge my fellow citizens to join me in tribute to Black History Month and the message of courage and perseverance it brings to all of us.”

This year’s theme is Black Resistance: A Journey to Equality. February 2023 is a time to honor the many battles fought and won by Black Americans, despite the unjust and often brutal racism they faced and continue to face. According to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, “Black people have sought ways to nurture and protect Black lives, and for autonomy of their physical and intellectual bodies through armed resistance, voluntary emigration, nonviolence, education, literature, sports, media, and legislation/politics. Black led institutions and affiliations have lobbied, litigated, legislated, protested, and achieved success.”

There are many stories of Black Resistance from the United States, and from around the world. Here are just a few selections from Swank, one of the City Tech Library’s streaming video collections.

Swank is only available to current City Tech students and faculty. To view films from off-campus:

Click on Swank.
Enter your CUNYfirst credentials.
Click on the Student or Instructor buttons depending on your classification.
Click on the film you would like to watch.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday nor a substitute for Christmas, and many people celebrate both across North America and the Caribbean. Maulana Karenga founded the weeklong festival in 1966 as a way for African-Americans to celebrate their families and communities, while honoring ancestors. The holiday is based on seven guiding principles, one for each day of the observance: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. 

Celebrations begin by lighting candles, giving gifts, and decorating with the African colors of red, green, and black. Throughout the week, favorite African-American dishes, as well as traditional African and Caribbean favorites, are served.

The largest meal—Karamu Ya Imani—is held on December 31. The main dish served tends to be a stew, such as Ghanaian groundnut stew, Cajun jambalaya, Creole gumbo, or West Indian curry. Other classics include Hoppin’ John, Nigerian jollof rice, fritters, catfish, collard greens, fried okra, spoonbread, plantains, and (are you hungry yet?) sweet potato pie. Celebrate Vegan: 200 Life-Affirming Recipes for Occasions Big and Small offers delicious vegan versions of traditional soul food dishes. The Real Jerk : New Caribbean Cuisine provides recipes for Caribbean classics like jerk chicken, sorrel punch, and rum cake. Desserts might include soul food favorites like sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, or caramel cake. Global Bakery has recipes for delicious cakes from Africa and the Caribbean perfect for Kwanzaa, including Ginger Cake, Rum Cake, and Semolina Cake. 

Michael Twitty is a wonderful food historian and writer who identifies as “an African American who happens to be Jewish, or a Jew who happens to be African American.” He writes a little about Christmas but he writes much more about Hannukah and Kwanzaa. His blog is a rich resource for both recipes and food histories.

This post is an excerpt from this blog originally published in December 2021. It was co-authored by Monica Berger.

Thanksgiving, the traditional story goes, began  in 1621 when the Pilgrims celebrated their harvest by feasting with their Native neighbors, who had taught them how to fish, hunt, plant and otherwise survive in the New World.

The problem with the traditional story of Thanksgiving is its false premise: peaceful friendship between Indigenous Americans and those invading their homelands. The truth about the Pilgrims’ arrival in Massachusetts is that it resulted in centuries of escalating violence and dispossession for Indigenous people.

Here are some facts about Thanksgiving that many Americans are unaware of:

Thanksgiving more likely began in 1637 when Massachusetts Bay Governor William Bradford designated “a day of thanksgiving kept in all the churches for our victories against the Pequots.” The holiday was meant to celebrate the victory of colonial forces over the Pequot tribe in Mystic, Connecticut. In one raid, soldiers massacred over 700 Pequot men, women and children. Survivors were sold into slavery.

Bradford declared an official day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the annihilation of the Pequots. The celebration, which included a feast, became a custom observed every year. This is one possible origin of our current holiday.

Given this history of Thanksgiving, it is understandable that many Native Americans celebrate an alternative holiday on the fourth Thursday of November: the National Day of Mourning.

National Day of Mourning began in 1970 when Frank James, a Wampanoag activist, was asked to speak at an event observing the 350th anniversary of the Mayflower landing. But his invitation was retracted after his bluntly honest speech stunned the event planners.

James wrote: “It is with mixed emotion that I stand here to share my thoughts. This is a time of celebration for you—celebrating an anniversary of a beginning for the white man in America. A time of looking back, of reflection. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People…Even before the Pilgrims landed it was common practice for explorers to capture Indians, take them to Europe and sell them as slaves for 220 shillings apiece. The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod for four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors and stolen their corn and beans.”

The event planners dis-invited James, calling his speech “inflammatory.”  So James created a “National Day of Mourning” as an Indigenous response to Thanksgiving. Native people from throughout the Americas came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they mourned their ancestors who were sold into slavery, massacred, displaced, and exploited after English invasion.

Every year since 1970, Indigenous People have gathered in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they honor their ancestors and advocate for surviving Native American communities, who continue to face oppression and mistreatment. National Day of Mourning brings attention to American history that is often obscured. As James shared in 1970, “What has happened cannot be changed, but today we must work towards a more humane America, a more Indian America, where men and nature once again are important; where the Indian values of honor, truth, and brotherhood prevail.”

Further Reading

On Thanksgiving: why myths matter

My grandfather founded the National Day of Mourning to dispel the myth of Thanksgiving. I’m carrying on his legacy.

This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. They still regret it 400 years later.

National Native American Heritage Month is celebrated each year in November. It is a time to celebrate the traditions, languages, stories, and survival of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

What is now New York is the ancestral home of the Lenape Nation. The Lenape thrived here for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. Their homeland Lenapehoking spanned from Western Connecticut to Eastern Pennsylvania, and the Hudson Valley to Delaware, with Manhattan at its center.

The lives of the Lenape revolved around communal hunting, fishing, and planting. They practiced small-scale farming, growing the “three sisters” crops of maize, beans, and squash, as well as pumpkins, tobacco, and sunflowers. During the rest of the year, they would fish and hunt. They also picked field greens like wild leeks and onions in the spring. In summer, they gathered beach plums, wild grapes, and berries. In fall, they collected chestnuts, acorns, and walnuts. They had a prosperous, communal, and sustainable way of life.

The arrival of Europeans in North America was devastating to the Lenape. In 1626, the Lenape “sold” the island of Manahatta to the Dutch. The Dutch were of course deceptive in their dealings, as the concept of shared land use was fundamental to Lenape, and they did not believe that land could be privately owned. After the loss of their land led to a scarcity of essential resources, the Lenape could not farm and were forced to over-hunt.

Between 1600 and 1700, the Lenape were decimated by diseases and war. By 1700 their numbers were reduced to 3,000 at most. Before the European invasion, Lenape numbered at least 20,000. Smallpox, malaria, measles, and other diseases brought by the colonizers took a terrible toll. By 1750, the Lenape had lost an estimated 90% of their people.

The Treaty of Easton, signed in 1758 with the English, forced the Lenape to move westward into Pennsylvania and Ohio. More deceptive land treaties and forced migrations followed, and the Lenape were pushed further and further west, losing their connections to their traditional homeland.  After the Indian Removal Act of 1830, passed by Congress during the Jackson administration, Lenape remaining in the eastern United States were forced to migrate to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).

Today, many modern Lenape reside in Oklahoma and Kansas, where their ancestors settled after forced removal and relocation. Still others reside in their ancestral homelands. Their struggle for the preservation of their culture and heritage continues.

Other Resources:

Lenapehoking is the first Lenape-curated exhibition of Lenape historic and contemporary cultural arts in New York City.

Native Cinema Showcase is a week-long celebration of the best in Indigenous film. This year’s online program includes a total of 35 films representing 30 Native nations in eight different countries. And it’s free!

The Lenape Center “has the mission of continuing Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland through community, culture, and the arts. Since 2009, the Lenape Center based in Manhattan and led by Lenape elders has created programs, exhibitions, workshops, performances, symposia, land acknowledgment, and ceremonies to continue our Lenape presence. We push back against our erasure and seed the ground with Lenape consciousness for the next generations.”