Post by Maya Bergamasco, Gail Harris, Theresa Knapp, and Marco Severino, HLSL DIB Team
The Harvard Law School Library Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (HLSL DIB) team would like to share our Anti-Racist Resource Guide. We have included books, films, podcasts, and reading lists to educate ourselves and our communities. We have also included ways to donate to, and get involved with, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement.
We initially created this guide in response to a call from our community of HLS library staff. Many of us felt the call to action and wanted more tools and knowledge to be effective advocates, allies, and accomplices. As lawyers, scholars and information professionals surrounded by legal material, and as a community of caring individuals who value social justice, it is in our nature and central to our mission to research, learn, and educate ourselves and others. We cannot ignore our privilege and our obligation as library professionals and information stewards to combat oppression and discrimination. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the potential we possess to share the information and knowledge we hold amongst ourselves and our shelves with our colleagues across the Harvard Law School community.
We hope this Guide sparks a continuation of the crucial work of understanding and dismantling systemic racism. In a recent discussion with HLSL staff, Dr. John S. Wilson, Jr., a senior advisor and strategist to Harvard University President Bacow, urged us to look within ourselves to be a “force for good.” As we look within ourselves, we hope you’ll join us in combining our knowledge and lived experiences so that we may collectively be a force of good to achieve an equitable future.
For questions and comments, please reach out to the HLSL DIB team at [email protected].