Celebrating Black authors

Chase Jordan, The Sampson Independent, Clinton, N.C.
·3 min read

Feb. 13—Children's librarian Tiffany Savage arranges books from Black authors at the JC Holliday Library.

Donna Washington tells stories during the annual African American Read-In, hosted by the Upward Bound program of Sampson County Schools and the Sampson-Clinton Public Library system.

File Photo 5/8 Sampson Independent

Dr. Rue Lee-Holmes, arts education coordinator for Sampson County Schools, leads the audience with drums and music while reading 'To Be a Drum.'

File Photo 5/8 Sampson Independent

During the African American Read-In, the first floor of the JC Holliday Library is packed with community members celebrating the achievements of artists and writers.

That will not happen this year because of COVID-19, but the Sampson-Clinton Public Library System and students from Sampson County Schools' Upward Bound program are working hard to make sure the tradition continues. Due to COVID-19, the read-in will be virtual this year and will be available to watch on the library's Facebook and YouTube pages. The theme for 2021 is "Building Tolerance through Literature."

"We really wanted to not only wanted to push for representation, but how different pieces build tolerance and pretty much tells us how we may look different, but we're all the same," said Tiffany Savage, children's librarian. "We felt like it was important to do something like this year because of the climate we've been going though with the pandemic and all the things we've been seeing in the media, we really wanted to build on diversity."

From Sunday, Feb. 21, through Sunday, Feb. 28, the content will feature storytelling from Donna Washington, an an internationally known performer and storyteller. She will have a performance for families and children. Another show will be specialized for middle and high school students.

Upward Bound, a program dedicated to helping students with their higher education goals, brought the first AARI to Sampson County several years ago. AARI was established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English. Its purpose is to make literacy an important part of Black History Month.

"One thing that they were beginning to notice was that there was not a lot of African American literature in public and school libraries," Savage said while talking about the AARI founders mission to promote Black authors and artists. "They felt like in order for children to really accept who they are, they have to see books that represent them."

This year's AARI event is being sponsored with grant funding from the Sampson Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council. Savage thanked the organizations for the help, which will showcase the talents of local students and community members. Prerecorded shows will be made to help accommodate the schedules of participants, such as Upward Bound and the Clinton Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

"With this being prerecorded, it will actually give some of our educators time to actually incorporate some of these resources into their lesson plans," Savage said about spreading awareness and making sure the lessons reach many people.

The reading presentations and shows for AARI will be available on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SCPLinfo and the library's YouTube channel, https://bit.ly/2ZatjEV. For more information about local libraries, visit www.sampsonnc.com/departments/library_services

Reach Chase Jordan at 910-592-8137. Follow us on Twitter at @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.