June 7, 2020

In response to the murder of George Floyd, the ongoing epidemic of racism, and the resulting civil unrest that has permeated the core of our nation, the SRJC Libraries & Media Services departments stand together in solidarity with our Black/African American community. We see the systemic prejudice, injustice, inequity, and violence perpetrated toward the Black community and condemn racism and prejudice in all its forms. 

We hear our SRJC community. We are listening. We will continue to listen with humility. We are deeply impacted by your shared experiences. We are ready to learn. We are ready to act. 

As a starting point, we are collecting the resources so many of you have generously shared: Racial Solidarity – An SRJC Community-Generated Guide. As our community conversation evolves, this guide will as well.

• We recognize and respect the purposes of civil-disobedience demonstrations in our local and national communities. As President Obama reminded us recently, “...this country was founded on protest — it is called the American Revolution.” 

• We commit to continuing reflection and dialogue about what solidarity means, what solidarity looks like, and what we can do to take action. 

• We strive to ensure equal access to programs and resources for all learners in our mission as information and media professionals. We will cast a vision more deliberate and explicit in our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. 

• We curate collections “for values of interest, information, and enlightenment of all the people of the community.” It is not only our duty but our privilege to help students access any and all information that furthers their education and fosters lifelong striving for a better and equitable future. 

• We seek, collect and actively circulate knowledge to ensure that we are always questioning the implicit biases built into our professions and standing up for the dignity of every human. 

Together, we hope we can rededicate ourselves to the real work of higher education which is ultimately to contribute to a just society.

Sent on behalf of the SRJC Libraries & Media Services teams

STOP

Our work is higher education:
optional learning for ambitious
minds. Young and old come to
us to learn of philosophy and
Langston Hughes, how to build
bridges and read the night sky.
We teach students in scrubs to
fight invisible enemies, but watch
dark skin fall to asphalt at hands
of known terrors, streets stained
red, innocent palms raised to the
heavens in prayer for something
that resembles humanity. We do
our best to prepare young people
to save our world, but forget how
we failed them, how we grew old
and gray while some never had
the chance-- Now is too late to
begin, but delayed awareness
is not an excused absence. Our
work is education, and it must
never stop.

A poem by Nate Musser,
Media Resources Specialist