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