It’s that time of the semester year when we all might want to take a break with a young adult novel, so March’s book of the month is Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right. (Summary from the publisher).
In honor of Black History Month, the library has compiled a reading list that gives a history of Black legal activism in the United States. These books highlight how Black lawyers, judges, and activists pushed for equality and justice. If you’re interested in researching this further, Northwestern has research guides on *Black Studies and The African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean. These books and other relevant titles are on display outside the library.
John Mercer Langston (1829–1897) was an orator, abolitionist, lawyer, intellectual, diplomat, and politician. Born free on a Virginia plantation, Langston graduated from Oberlin College in 1849. He soon gained admission to the Ohio bar–the first Black person to do so–and by the age of twenty-five became one of the first Black Americans to hold elective office. Langston promoted Black civil rights, helped shape the nascent Republican Party, aided in the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue and John Brown’s raid, and recruited Black soldiers for the Union cause during the Civil War. In 1864, he became the first president of the National Equal Rights League. (from the publisher)
Mary Ann Shadd Cary was a courageous and outspoken nineteenth-century African American who used the press and public speaking to fight slavery and oppression in the United States and Canada. Part of the small free black elite who used their education and limited freedoms to fight for the end of slavery and racial oppression, Shadd Cary is best known as the first African American woman to publish and edit a newspaper in North America. But her importance does not stop there. She was an active participant in many of the social and political movements that influenced nineteenth century abolition, black emigration and nationalism, women’s rights, and temperance. (from the publisher)
Written by leading scholars of African American and women’s history, the essays in this volume seek to reconceptualize the political history of black women in the United States by placing them “at the center of our thinking.” The book explores how slavery, racial discrimination, and gender shaped the goals that African American women set for themselves, their families, and their race and looks at the political tools at their disposal. By identifying key turning points for black women, the essays create a new chronology and a new paradigm for historical analysis. The chronology begins in 1837 with the interracial meeting of antislavery women in New York City and concludes with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. (from the publisher)
This book uncovers the forgotten contributions of late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century national organizations—including the National Afro-American League, the National Afro-American Council, the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, and the Niagara Movement—in developing strategies for racial justice organizing, which they then passed on to the NAACP and the National Urban League. It tells the story of these organizations’ leaders and motivations, the initiatives they undertook, and the ideas about law and racial justice activism they developed and passed on to future generations. In so doing it sheds new light on how these early origins helped set the path for twentieth-century legal civil rights activism in the United States. The book shows that, at an early foundational stage of national racial justice organizing, activists thought about civil and political rights and the social welfare and economic aspects of achieving racial justice as interrelated aspects of a comprehensive agenda. (from the publisher)
As Jim Crow curtailed modes of political protest and legal redress, members of the Afro-American League and the organizations that formed in its wake—including the Afro-American Council, the Niagara Movement, the Constitution League, and the Committee of Twelve—used propaganda, moral suasion, boycotts, lobbying, electoral office, and the courts, as well as the call for self-defense, to end disfranchisement, segregation, and racial violence. In the process, the League and the organizations it spawned provided the ideological and strategic blueprint of the NAACP and the struggle for civil rights in the twentieth century, demonstrating that there was significant and effective agitation during “the age of accommodation.” (from the publisher)
Representing the Race tells the story of an enduring paradox of American race relations through the prism of a collective biography of African American lawyers who worked in the era of segregation. Practicing the law and seeking justice for diverse clients, they confronted a tension between their racial identity as black men and women and their professional identity as lawyers. Both blacks and whites demanded that these attorneys stand apart from their racial community as members of the legal fraternity. Yet, at the same time, they were expected to be “authentic”—that is, in sympathy with the black masses. This conundrum, as Kenneth W. Mack shows, continues to reverberate through American politics today. (from the publisher)
Charles Ogletree, Jr., tells his personal story of growing up a “Brown baby” against a vivid pageant of historical characters that includes, among others, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Earl Warren, Anita Hill, Alan Bakke, and Clarence Thomas. A measured blend of personal memoir, exacting legal analysis, and brilliant insight, Ogletree’s eyewitness account of the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education offers a unique vantage point from which to view five decades of race relations in America.” (from the publisher)
Drawing on their collective decades of work on civil rights issues as well as personal histories of rising from poverty and oppression, these titans of the legal profession discuss the importance of working for justice in an unjust time.
Covering topics as varied as “the commonality of pain,” “when ‘public’ became a dirty word,” and the concept of an “equality dividend” that is due to people of color for helping America brand itself internationally as a country of diversity and acceptance, Sherrilyn Ifill, Loretta Lynch, Bryan Stevenson, and Anthony C. Thompson engage in a deeply thought-provoking discussion on the law’s role in both creating and solving our most pressing racial quandaries. (from the publisher)
Racism and discrimination have choked economic opportunity for African Americans at nearly every turn. At several historic moments, the trajectory of racial inequality could have been altered dramatically. But neither Reconstruction nor the New Deal nor the civil rights struggle led to an economically just and fair nation. Today, systematic inequality persists in the form of housing discrimination, unequal education, police brutality, mass incarceration, employment discrimination, and massive wealth and opportunity gaps. Economic data indicates that for every dollar the average white household holds in wealth the average black household possesses a mere ten cents. This compelling and sharply argued book addresses economic injustices head-on and make the most comprehensive case to date for economic reparations for U.S. descendants of slavery. (from the publisher)
Using the tools of critical literary and legal theory, Patricia Williams sets out her views of contemporary popular culture and current events, from Howard Beach to homelessness, from Tawana Brawley to the law-school classroom, from civil rights to Oprah Winfrey, from Bernhard Goetz to Mary Beth Whitehead. She also traces the workings of “ordinary racism”—everyday occurrences, casual, unintended, banal perhaps, but mortifying. Taking up the metaphor of alchemy, Williams casts the law as a mythological text in which the powers of commerce and the Constitution, wealth and poverty, sanity and insanity, wage war across complex and overlapping boundaries of discourse. In deliberately transgressing such boundaries, she pursues a path toward racial justice that is, ultimately, transformative. (from the publisher)
“Before the Civil War, colonization schemes and black laws threatened to deport former slaves born in the United States. Birthright Citizens recovers the story of how African American activists remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses. They faced formidable opposition, most notoriously from the US Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott. Still, Martha S. Jones explains, no single case defined their status. Former slaves studied law, secured allies, and conducted themselves like citizens, establishing their status through local, everyday claims. All along they argued that birth guaranteed their rights. With fresh archival sources and an ambitious reframing of constitutional law-making before the Civil War, Jones shows how the Fourteenth Amendment constitutionalized the birthright principle, and black Americans’ aspirations were realized. Birthright Citizens tells how African American activists radically transformed the terms of citizenship for all Americans.” (from the publisher)
The featured book for January, 2025 is The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. If you’re interested in learning more about housing discrimination, please register to attend “A Conversation on Redlining, Segregation, and Urban Renewal in Chicago” as part of the law school’s Martin Luther King Commemoration the week of Jan. 20.
“Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods.” – from the publisher.
This book was recognized by the New York Times as a notable book of the year/editor’s choice, by NPR as a best book of the year (2017) and was longlisted for the National Book Award.
This reading list complements the law school’s MLK Commemoration events taking place from January 20 to 24, 2025.
Housing Discrimination, Segregation, and Gentrification
Chicago has a long history of housing discrimination and racial segregation. Structuring Inequality by Tracy Lynn Steffes discusses the role of public policy in creating and enforcing inequality and segregation in Chicago’s neighborhoods. Block by Block by Amanda Seligman gives a history of Chicago’s West side transitioning from a predominantly white to predominantly Black neighborhood. High Risers, by Ben Austin, is a nuanced study of Cabrini Green that incorporates voices of residents along with history. Issues of neighborhood segregation, gentrification, and inequality continue to this day. Black on the Block by Mary Patillo focuses on the South Side’s North Kenwood-Oakland neighborhood, a predominantly Black neighborhood facing gentrification. Us vs. Them by Jan Doering discusses recent gentrification in Rogers Park and Uptown on the North side.
The library also has a copy of Pauli Murray’s States’ Lawson Race and Color, which Thurgood Marshall referred to as “the bible” of Brown v. Board of Education. Laws on Race and Color compiles laws that enforce segregation and law that establish civil rights from every state. Pauli Murray was a groundbreaking civil rights lawyer and activist whose work informed Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP, as well as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and NOW. Since our rare books do not circulate, you can also read it online.
Chicago Freedom Movement
In the Chicago Freedom Movement, the SCLC and Martin Luther King Jr. worked alongside Chicago-based organizations to advocate for fair housing by using nonviolent direct action similar to that which activists used in the South. In A Decisive Decade, author Robert McKersky tells the history of the Chicago Freedom Movement through his own experiences as an activist in the movement. Northern Protest, by James Ralph, addresses the legacy of the Chicago Freedom Movement. One of those legacies is Operation Breadbasket. Led by Jesse Jackson, Operation Breadbasket’s original goal was to support Black-owned businesses. It ultimately lay the foundation for Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH coalition. Finally, The Chicago Freedom Movement focuses on the lasting effects of the movement by using oral histories.
If you want to learn more about Harold Washington, the library has several biographies, including Mayor Harold Washington: Champion of Race and Reform in Chicago by Roger Biles. Additionally, Harold!, edited by Salim Mukkawil has photos from Harold Washington’s campaign and terms as mayor.
“As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.” (from the publisher)
The reading list for November, 2024 highlights Chicago history.
If you’re interested in exploring Chicago, check out the Activities in Chicago section of the library’s law school survival guide for student recommendations. The Chicago History Museum has fantastic exhibits and programming, and regular free admission days, including November 11 and 20.
“The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, the most intense of the riots that comprised the “Red Summer” of violence across the nation’s cities, has shaped the last century but is unfamiliar or altogether unknown to many people today. In 1919, her second collection of poems, Eve L. Ewing explores the story of this event—which lasted eight days and resulted in thirty-eight deaths and almost five hundred injuries— through poems recounting the stories of everyday people trying to survive and thrive in the city. Ewing uses speculative and Afrofuturist lenses to recast history, illuminating the thin line between the past and the present.” (from the publisher)
There are some classic books about Chicago, including Nelson Algren’s book-length prose poem Chicago: City on the Make, Studs Terkel’s oral history Division Street: America, an oral history, The Jungle, a novel about the immigrant experience in the meatpacking industry in the early 1900s.
Learn about African American history with The Defender, which tells the story of Chicago’s Black newspaper founded in 1905. The South Side is about segregation and also the author’s love for the South Side neighborhood where she grew up. You can also read about how Chicago relates to music in Move On Up, about soul music and Sun Ra’s Chicago, about music and Afrofuturism.
Finally, you can explore other neighborhoods and communities. In Never a City So Real, journalist Alex Kotlowitz created a short tour of Chicago through profiles of people whose stories might otherwise not be told. American Warsaw profiles Chicago’s Polish community. Queer Legacies shares stories from the LGBTQ Library/Archives. Here’s the Deal discusses urban planning through the story of one block.
Election day is November 5, 2024. This blog post is focusing on registering and voting in Illinois and how to learn about candidates for Chicago school board and judicial elections. Our goal is to give you resources to research candidates. The library does not endorse specific candidates or take a position on any issues on the ballot.
If you are registered to vote in Illinois, early voting is already open at the Supersite, 191 N. Clark, andCBOE Offices on the 6th Floor of 69 W. Washington. On October 25 all early voting sites are open. You can vote at any early voting site in the city, and the Chicago Board of Elections lists site addresses.
Although coverage of national elections is probably exhausting at this point, there are several elections specific to Chicago and Cook County that are worth paying attention to.
Currently, the Chicago school board is appointed by the mayor. In November, Chicago will elect 10 of 21 school board members. The rest of the board will remain appointed by the mayor until November, 2026, when all members will be elected. Block Club published information about candidates. If you want a deeper dive, ChalkBeat has much more information about the school board election and Chicago Public Schools in general.
Judges are elected in Illinois. This November, voters can choose whether to retain judges. The Illinois State Bar Association rates judges based on information supplied by candidates, a background check by trained lawyers/investigators, and interviews of each candidate. The Chicago Council of Lawyers also interviews judicial candidates. Both organizations use a scale of Highly Qualified to Not Qualified. Injustice Watch publishes a Judicial Election Guide where you can learn about judicial candidates. You can create a personal voting guide to take into the polls with you. Injustice watch does not endorse candidates. It conducts extensive research on the judges and allows each judge to answer questions about themselves and their experience. Additionally, Block Club published an article about some of the controversies faced by several of the judges on the ballot.
Finally, there are three advisory measures on the ballot. As they are advisory only, they will not directly lead to any legislation or policy change. You can learn more about these specific ballot measures and ballot questions in general from this article by WTTW, Chicago’s Public Broadcasting Station.
Hispanic Heritage Month, also known as Latinx/e Heritage Month, is an annual celebration observed in the United States from September 15th to October 15th. It is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the rich cultural heritage, history, contributions, and achievements of Hispanic and Latinx Americans.
For Latinx/e Heritage Month this year, the library is highlighting poetry by Latinx/e authors. All of these books are available to check out. Click on the book covers to be directed to the library catalog.
First, to highlight some of the most prominent Latinx/e poets. Ada Limón is the current Poet Laureate of the United States, Martín Espada’s book Floaters won the National Book Award in 2021, Promises of Gold by José Olivarez was nominated for the National Book Award in 2023, and Yesika Salgado is a National Poetry Slam finalist.
The library’s collection include authors that explore a range of Latinx/e identities. Collections by Rio Cortez, Aracelis Girmay, Aja Monet, Melania Luisa Marte, and Excilia Saldaña are from the perspective of an Afro-Latinx/e identity.
Looking back through history, Gabriela Mistral was the first Latin American author to win the Nobel Prize in poetry (1945). Alfonsina Storni began writing in the 1910s, and Julia de Burgos was published in the 1930s-50s.
Rosa Alcalá, Erika Sánchez, and Natalie Scenters-Zapico use their poetry to address gender and gender-based violence.
The featured book for Latinx/e Heritage Month is Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldúa. It’s an absolute classic: beautifully written and addresses intersectionality long before the term was in the public discourse.
Rooted in Gloria Anzaldúa’s experience as a Chicana, a lesbian, an activist, and a writer, the groundbreaking essays and poems in this volume profoundly challenged how we think about identity. Borderlands/La Frontera remapped our understanding of what a “border” is, seeing it not as a simple divide between here and there, us and them, but as a psychic, social, and cultural terrain that we inhabit, and that inhabits all of us. This 20th-anniversary edition features new commentaries from prominent activists, artists, and teachers on the legacy of Anzaldúa’s visionary work. (from the publisher)
If it’s checked out of Northwestern’s library, Chicago Public Library still has many copies available.
