On Monday, November 22, I was privilged to attend the Des Moines Library Foundation’s 2021 Iowa Author Awards Dinner, recognizing Iowa native, Nikole Hannah-Jones and her work on the 1619 Project.
First: This was the first large, indoor event that I have attended since the pandemic hit in March, 2020. Each audience member was required to submit proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test in order to attend. Kudos to the event planners for keeping everyone as safe as possible. I was also heartened to see that a fair number of seats had been held for students. It was incredibly meaningful and energizing to see Des Moines, Iowa turn out in support of truth. I also left feeling inspired seeing someone like me enjoy such a tremendous success.
Now…on to the speech: In her speech, Nikole Hannah-Jones talked about growing up Black in Iowa. I, too, remember feelings of discomfort when a school assignment would inevitably involve something around “the country where your family is from.” My mom is white, so it was easy to talk about Merry Old England and whatnot, but my dad’s side was more complicated: We came to the Midwest during the Great Migration from Mississippi and Alabama, we know this. But where were we from before that? She talked about “Black History” in Iowa schools basically being confined to “The Dream Guy” (Martin Luther King, Jr.), “The Peanut Guy” (George Washington Carver), and Rosa Parks. Heck – I didn’t know that my city’s first Black teacher taught at the school that I attended until I was 44 years old. Black children and adults deserve so much better than this.
Nikole Hannah-Jones spoke at length about the many hours she spent at the library as a child. Which reminded me that I still hadn’t had an opportunity to use my State of Iowa Library card since having gotten it over a year ago.
Stay tuned for Part 2: My trip to the State of Iowa Library
