San Mateo County Libraries is committed to offering programs that create opportunities for discussion and learning about equity issues in our communities. Our Equity Author Series will highlight authors who share their experience or write about their research in housing, immigration, education, and LGBTQIA+.
Each author talk will be paired with a Community Conversation on the same topic. Our Community Conversations will provide a speaker from a local community agency to share information and connect you with other community members to discuss how you can make a difference in your community. We hope you join us for one or of all these events!
Be on the lookout for free book giveaways before each author event during Curbside Services, opens a new window hours at all our locations, opens a new window. You can also place a hold on these titles by browsing our catalog, opens a new window. Visit smcl.org/events/equity, opens a new window to learn more or register for any of our equity events.
Enjoy this video montage of past authors who have been invited to be a part of this series. You can find links to rewatch the full recordings of each author talk in the text below.
Previous Equity Author Series Events
Housing
Equity Author Talk With Richard Rothstein
View Recording, opens a new window
The Color of Law counters the argument that racial segregation was caused by unscrupulous real estate agents, unethical mortgage lenders, and exclusionary covenants outside the law. Instead, Rothstein argues that segregation in America is the byproduct of explicit government policies at local, state, and federal levels, leading to racial segregation in every metropolitan area in the U.S. The presentation was introduced by our Governing Board member and East Palo Alto City Council member Regina Wallace-Jones. If you missed this event, you can still watch the recording of the conversation, opens a new window held in March.
To learn more, you can follow the resources that Richard Rothstein shared during the talk:
- New Movement to Redress Segregation
- On making Black lives matter in our white segregated neighborhoods
- On housing policies that can have a discriminatory effect
Community Conversation: Equitable Housing Access in San Mateo County
This conversation was moderated by Peninsula Conflict Resource Center and "Home For All," where they shared a presentation about housing in San Mateo County in March. All attendees were invited to engage in a facilitated discussion about housing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Immigration
Equity Author Talk With Aarti Namdev Shahani and Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
View Recording, opens a new window
In her book Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares, Aarti Namdev Shahani shares her family's riveting story, from the upheaval of the Partition, their emigration to the United States in 1981, and the struggle to live in the midst of family deportation, Sept. 11, and immigrant isolation. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was on DACA when she decided to write about being undocumented for the first time using her own name. A National Book Award Finalist, The Undocumented Americans reveals the hidden lives of her fellow undocumented Americans in a deeply personal and groundbreaking portrait of a nation. This event was introduced by Foster City Council and Library Governing Board member Sam Hindi.
Both books are available for purchase through the Foundation for San Mateo County Libraries, opens a new window with proceeds benefitting the Foundation and Florey's in Pacifica.
Community Conversation: Immigration Equity in San Mateo County
Moderated by Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, opens a new window will share a presentation about their work in San Mateo County. All attendees are then invited to participate in a facilitated discussion about immigration.
Education
Equity Author Talk With Rucker C. Johnson
View Recording, opens a new window
In Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works, Rucker C. Johnson argues for public education as the primary engine of upward mobility. The book examines the successful and lasting benefits of the three most significant equal-opportunity initiatives (court-mandated integration efforts, school finance reform, and expansions of public pre-K investments) using nationally representative data sets of children from birth to adulthood, across multiple generations, matched with their access to quality schools. The presentation was introduced by our Governing Board Vice-Chair, Sara McDowell, Vice Mayor City of San Carlos.
Community Conversation: Education Equity in San Mateo County
Moderated by Peninsula Conflict Resource Center, a local organization will share a presentation about their work supporting educational equity in San Mateo County. All attendees are then invited to participate in a facilitated discussion about education.
LGBTQIA+
Equity Author Talk With George M. Johnson
View Recording, opens a new window
Join us in celebrating Pride month and welcoming author George M. Johnson as they answer your questions and speak about their experiences that led to and informed the writing of their hugely successful memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, now optioned by Gabrielle Union for a mini-series! A prolific and powerful voice, George M. Johnson is an award-winning journalist, consultant, and activist located in Brooklyn.
If you are interested in purchasing All Boys Aren't Blue, we are partnering with Reach and Teach in San Mateo while 20% of the proceeds of online sales sold through June 2021 will be donated to the Foundation for San Mateo County Libraries, opens a new window.
Community Conversations: "__ and Queer" Exploring Intersectionality within the LGBTQIA+ community
You are invited to participate in a conversation with us. We will be joined by the San Mateo Pride Center's director Francisco Sapp to help facilitate a dialogue about intersectionality within the queer community and what it means to be "queer and."
Visit smcl.org/events/equity, opens a new window to learn more or register for any of these events. Which conversation are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments!
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