In “A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History” (323.1196 The), author and political scientist Jeanne Theoharis makes a distinction between the “histories we get” and “the histories we need.”
In the realm of politics, a united “we” with agreed-upon “needs” is difficult to imagine. And even if needs are reduced to an individual level, discussions about needs can be murky, in part, because needs are not easy to articulate. In the most basic relationships — parental, romantic, and friendly — we can go a lifetime without being able to express “what I need.”
Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” is a psychological model of human development that can assist with some murkiness. The hierarchy is usually depicted as a triangle, with fundamental human needs at the base of the triangle and higher-level needs at the top.
Physiological needs, like food, water and shelter, are the base. They are important, if not required, for further human development. Safety needs are next; then love and belonging needs followed by esteem needs. At the top of the triangle is self-actualization needs, or the desire to become the best one can be.
In the introduction to Mary Hull’s children’s book, “Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Leader” (j 921 Parks, R.), Coretta Scott King appeals directly to the apex of the triangle. “Before you begin this book,” she writes, “I hope you will ask yourself what the word excellence means to you.” Later in the introduction she describes how her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., himself consulted history to meet a pivotal need.
Dr. King needed a “method for resisting injustice without compromising his religious beliefs,” she writes, and the method of nonviolence that he adopted came from “a man of a different race, who lived in a different country, and even practiced a different religion. The man was Mahatma Gandhi, the great leader of India.”
In leading others, or as we contemplate ways we would like to feel safe, connected, or inspired to be our best selves, what personal needs could inform our contact with history?
February is Black History Month, which was first officially recognized in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, who called it an “opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans.”
Theoharis’s title, “A More Beautiful and Terrible History,” points to the possibility of looking even more deeply into these accomplishments, but it also points to the possibility of looking more deeply into histories that put us in touch with the “terrible,” the painful. A new title at CDPL approaches this duality by contrasting blinding with awakening: “Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring” (323.1196 Ger) by Richard Gergel.
During the month of February CDPL will curate two Black History Month displays, drawing from our adult and children’s collections. Materials will span a wide range of events, people, and time periods, and all materials will be available for checkout, as are the books mentioned in this column. We hope you will come in see what we have to offer.
Deanna Burkett, a reference assistant at the Crawfordsville District Public Library, contributed this column.
