Read to Remember & Read to Forget...

Here are 17 things I thought were worth sharing:

photo illustration by Joan Wong

1. On the eve of Black History Month, LeVar Burton and a few friends have created “This is My Story”, a series of 6 short videos in which Burton shares stories that speak about some of the racist experiences of most black people in the United States. Difficult to listen to but necessary to hear, Burton proves yet again how transformational stories can be…
2. Google’s Black History Month video has gone viral.
3. Medium has created “The Zora Cannon”, a list of what they believe are the greatest books ever written by African American women. They also compiled a list of “The Next Generation” of black women writers they think you should read right now. Subscribe to Medium for free via your Google account.
4. My grandparents were among the millions of African Americans who traveled north during the Great Migration. These photos were all taken over a three week period in 1941 on the South Side of Chicago, where and when my father grew up. An amazing visual record of an important time in our country’s history.
5. 400 years after slavery came to our shores, one of our most decorated African American novelists, both for young people and adults, traveled to Ghana to see what echoes of the past she could hear there. 
6. Now you can read some articles and newspapers that Frederick Douglass wrote and edited!
7. Move over, Turnitin! You have some competition! 
8. Just a reminder that whether you have a BPL, NYPL, or QPL library card, they all give you access to CulturePass, which in turn gives you access to dozens of NYC cultural institution, all free of charge!
9. Although I am a die-hard Brooklynite, I love my NYPL library card! Sign up for their Book of the Day newsletter!
10. The Library of Congress is keeping up with the times, and just created The LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive which collects and preserves online content which documents LGBTQ+ history, scholarship, and culture in the United States and around the world.
11. Canva is an amazing design resource (I use it all the time!), and now they have created an Education Program so you can apply with your school email and credentials to get a free subscription to Canva Pro! 
12. We are living through times fraught with political turmoil and divisiveness. Reading, by its very nature, puts you in the shoes of other people. Check out a story about a woman’s reading project: “In the year leading up to the 2020 election, I would read (at least) one book from each state, as well as from Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., prioritizing contemporary fiction and memoir, with the hope of exploring shared experiences, such as family, identity and a sense of home.”
13. Attention art teachers: Paris museums just put 100,000 images online for unrestricted public use!
14. Want some free (or cheaper) alternatives to Photoshop & Illustrator?
15. Creative Commons just released a Chrome extension so that you can find and download CC-licensed photos (and their attributions) with just a click! 
16. A listing of FREE (and sometimes FREE) cultural institutions in NYC!
17. Kialo Edu is a custom version of Kialo, the world's largest argument mapping and debate site, specifically designed for classroom use. Kialo’s mission is to promote well-reasoned discussion online, and to that end, Kialo is free for educators to use...