Transcript: Gary N. Sudduth African American History and Culture Collection

Watch the video: Gary N. Sudduth African American History and Culture.

You see the words “Hennepin County Minnesota”

You see the spines of books on a shelf.

You hear people reading aloud from books, the words overlapping.

The Constitution never mentions

We people in America

And Leslie jotting

And I couldn't keep a slight smile from my face

You see book covers and pages of books

You see the Sudduth Collection reading room at Sumner Library.

You hear

The Gary Sudduth Collection holds over 5000 titles.

You see THOMAS REDD, Sumner Library supervisor. He says

It is a special collection for African American literature.

You see a photo of Gary Sudduth and hear his daughter say

It was a passion of his.

You see ELISHA SUDDUTH, Gary Sudduth’s daughter, who says

A passion for people to be able to explore through books and, you know, a different level of understanding.

You see a different photo of Gary Sudduth. She says

It's beautiful to see him memorialized like this, to be remembered like this

You see an open book. She says

And people can always come and get a piece of him in a book.

You see ASSATA BROWN, Sumner Library Community Advisory Group member. She says

But it is important to Sumner Library because Sumner sits in a neighborhood

You see bookshelves. She says

That is majority African American and sits in a wider neighborhood

You see an open book. She says

That is majority African American.

You see ELISHA SUDDUTH. She says

It is so important to have your history available to you, and when you can come somewhere and actually get the truth of your history

You see a book cover. She says

From books to understand

You see her standing by bookshelves. She says

Where things started and where they're going

You see a close-up of her reading a book. She says

And to where to go to next.

You see a shelf of books. She says

I think that's wildly important.

You see TIFFANY CASEY, senior librarian. She says

Parents are really excited, too. They have a chance to, like, find books that they can read with their kids, that look like their kids

You see a shelf of books. She says

And also you'll get parents that will be like ‘Oh, I didn't have this when growing up,’ so it's extra special for them.

You see the reading room. You hear THOMAS REDD say

There’s patrons that come in and are just bedazzled by what they see on the shelves

You see him. He says

We want to be able to showcase all of the great work that African American culture

You see the cover of a book. He says

Has been able to elevate

You see a bookshelf. He says

And be able to bring it to a platform that people can access.

You see ASSATA BROWN. She says

You need to be able to see yourself

You see the open page of a book. She says

And use your imagination to see yourself by reading.

You see TIFFANY CASEY. She says

When you hear the descriptions like, they always talk about people's hair [scoffing sound]. My hair doesn't do that.

So when you get a description and someone's hair is realistic to your hair, I don't know that just makes me really happy.

You see ELISHA SUDDUTH. She says

It's amazing and wonderful to know that someone thought of him in this way and say one way

You see the reading room. She says

We can continue on your legacy is through allowing children and people of color and other communities to have these books available.

You see the first photo of Gary Sudduth. She says

It keeps his spirit alive, his memory alive, and also the work that he was doing alive.

You see the logo for Hennepin County and the library website url, www.hclib.org