Looking in the Mirror: Cooperstown Reflects on Racism

In response to the events of 2020 and nationwide conversations about racism, the Friends of the Village of Cooperstown Library launched a new program series, Looking in the Mirror: Cooperstown Reflects on Racism. This program, consisting of a series of panel discussions, is exploring the major institutions of our community and working to promote a more just and equitable Cooperstown. Topics include Racism and Local History, Tourism, Education, Healthcare, Law Enforcement, Arts and Monuments, Housing, and more. All of the programs are free and available to the public via Zoom (live) or YouTube (recorded).

The Antiracism Committee includes FOVL Board members as well as community members, and is a collaboration with the League of Women Voters of the Cooperstown Area. Members of the committee are Lynne Mebust, Dot Hudson, Emily Gibson, Liane Hirabayashi, Caridad Fuertes, Namita Sugandhi, JoAnn Gardner, Candice Shannon, Karen Katz, Nancy Herman, and Molly Myers.

Recordings of Past Programs

Anti-Racism Resources

For additional information on the topic of racism locally and more broadly, resources include:

Anti-Racism Resources Available at the Library

These resources to deepen your understanding of racism, history, and the Black American experience are available through the Four County Library System:

Books

This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
White Fragility by Robin J. DiAngelo
Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
America’s Original Sin; Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to A New America by Jim Wallis
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in A World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth
The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale
Uprooting Racism: How White People Can Work for Social Justice by Paul Kivel
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery