It’s time to get in formation once again! Y’all ready to line dance?

Beyoncé’s new singles “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” have been spinning round and round in my head ever since the queen of surprises interrupted the largest sportsball game of the year to drop new music, visuals and a March 29th release date for Act II of her Renaissance era. I’m telling y’all now, the trail rides and rodeos are gonna be sick of the BeyHive this year. Good.

This is a moment to celebrate the fact that country music is Black AF. Grammy Award-winning banjo player Rhiannon Giddens is featured in the intro of “Texas Hold ‘Em.” Rhiannon, who calls herself our #banjoauntie, has spent her career schooling folks about how the banjo was invented by enslaved Africans. So Beyoncé announcing a country album is a special treat for our community during Black History Month.

February is also National Library Lovers Month! To keep up with the Black history vibe, we’re exploring the legacy of resistance in Black librarianship — with a dash of self care. So slip this newsletter to your inner circle and dive into a newsletter that we hope will inspire you to get

boo’d up with a good book (from your local library of course!).

– Starr

There are freedom fighters in the library

Our ancestors didn’t play no games while fighting for our rights. We’re familiar with the lunch counter sit-ins and the marches for voting rights. But Black librarians were also about that life as they desegregated public libraries and became protectors of information and sowers of knowledge. Archivist Rodney E. Freeman Jr. explores the activism of Black librarianship in his documentary “Are You A Librarian: The Untold Story of Black Librarians.”

We are more than martyrs

Tracie Hall hustled hard after becoming the first Black woman executive director of the American Library Association in 2020. When librarians became at risk of being fired, fined and jailed, sis created the nation’s first anti-censorship campaign and implemented multiple programs to protect and support librarians. After receiving an avalanche of accolades for her services last year, Tracie noticed she was only two years shy of 57, the age when her mother passed. She didn’t want to fall into the trope of the Black superwoman, which led to her resignation in October. Tracie chats about balancing her life with career and life goals by traveling to visit the most beautiful libraries in the world.

Now go out and spread the Black joy in the name of Black History Month! See y’all next time!