April 15, 2025 • 11 mins
Author, librarian and activist Ann Allen Shockley has been influential in elevating Black works in libraries, and is a groundbreaking author.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Okay, this is Sandy and Samantha and welcome to steff
WM Never told you production by Hear Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So we are writing this on April tenth, although publishing
it on April fifteenth, so you know, a little bit,
little bit delayed. We got this though, so but April
tenth was in the middle of National Library Week, so
we wanted to take the time to celebrate with an
activist or an activist librarian as she is known, also
(00:39):
a writer, journalist, so many other things, an Alan Shockley
who is still with us, so of course we've got
to celebrate while she's still with us. Shockley has made
a profound impact in the world with her works and
advocacy since her childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, which she was
born I believed in nineteen twenty seven. Shockley has been
influenced by books and writings her entire life. Teachers and
(01:02):
mentors encouraged her to write and read, seeing her talents
and creativity, so in high school she would take her
talents and use them for her high school newspaper and
would continue on to get her degree in college at
Fisk University, as well as received her Masters in Library
Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in nineteen fifty nine.
(01:23):
So again, even back then, you were supposed to get
a master's in order to work in the library. That's
so such an invest amount of work, right, So here's
a bit about her from benhair dot Org quote in
Alan Shockley was born on June twenty first, nineteen twenty seven,
in Louisville, Kentucky. Her love of reading and writing started
(01:43):
at an early age. Harriet Leforest, her eighth grade teacher,
was her mentor, and Richard Writ's uncle Tom's Children was
an early influence on her writing. Shockley's introduction to writing
for the public started with her editing her high school newspaper.
She continued to write for various newspapers and graduated with
her her bachelor's degree from Fisk University in nineteen forty eight,
and in nineteen fifty nine, she received her master's degree
(02:06):
in library science from Case Western Reserve University. So she's
been at this for a while. During this time, she
married William Shockley in nineteen forty eight and had two children,
and she would go on to work as a librarian
at Delaware State College and at the University of Maryland
Eastern Shore and again would go on to work at
Fisk University. In fact, she would go on to serve
(02:28):
as Professor of Library Science at Fisk. She also was
the associate librarian for Special Collections there as well as
well as founded the Black Oral History Program. So here's
a bit more detail about her. From the book Knowledge
of Justice Disruption of Library and Information Studies through Critical
Race Theory, So contributor and writer Schandra Walker writes and
(02:52):
Alan Shockley a black activist librarian who wrote extensively on
the purpose and function of black special collections. Shockley, who
was a part of a continuum of black activist librarians,
was extraordinary that she raised important questions about the need
for special collections in libraries serving HBCUs, their function and
support of black studies programs on predominantly white campuses, and
(03:15):
the roles of librarians and publishers in developing and supporting
such collections. So a lot of amazing work. And with
her contributions to the library systems and advocating for more
African American literature and writings, she was contributing with her
own written work as well. She was a freelance columnist
from nineteen forty five to nineteen fifty four and worked
(03:36):
at different publishings such as The Louisville Defender, Fiske University Heralds,
and others, specifically talking about African American studies and subjects
and issues, as well as lgbt related issues. Here's a
bit more information from beinhere dot org. Again, she writes
about triple oppression, the internationality of racism, sexism, and homophobia
(03:56):
in the Black community, and stories and writings were inspired
by the Black civil rights the LGBTQ plus aberration, and
the women's rights movements. And again from Schandra Walker, she
writes she's best known for her literary works centering the
lives of black lesbians. Her novels Loving Her, published in
nineteen seventy four, The Black and White of It published
(04:17):
in nineteen eighty, Say Jesus and Come to Me nineteen
eighty two, and Celebrating Hotsch Law, published in two thousand
and five, illuminate the lives of an overlooked demographic. Her
writing exemplifies the very type of work that Black special
collections endeavor to preserve and make available once they illuminate
experiences that might otherwise be unnoticed and undervalued by other collections.
(04:39):
In addition to her literary work, she also authored Afro
American Women Writers seventeen forty six, nineteen thirty three and
Anthology and Critical Guide nineteen eighty eight. Reportedly, the reference
work was a labor of love for her, as she
received no grant or clerical support, and she began assembling
it in nineteen seventy eight using extra time on holidays
and over summers, and describe being her inspiration for the work,
(05:01):
She stated quote, I shared a personal empathy with many
of these women whose problems mirrored my own and those
of women writers throughout the centuries. Yeah, and unsurprisingly, her
work and advocacy put her in a place of legacy
as an activist librarian. But honestly, we don't see a
lot of that conversation. But thanks to people like Walker,
we are able to get a better understanding of the
(05:23):
obvious crossovers of librarians and activism. I love that because
I will say, when I was trying to look up
specifically those who are activists, I see some historical figures,
but that was not a lot that they talk about.
I guess, you know, we don't celebrate librarians enough so
that might be part of this problem. So in her
time doing this very tedious work, she has talked about
(05:46):
why collections like the African American writings and works are
so important in being available to the public. And again
this is from the Walker chapter from that book. She says,
this type of special collection made available through the gathering
of books and other materials allows for more comprehensive consideration
and treatment of a certain phase of history, long neglected
and misinterpreted, which by necessity must be studied, examined, and
(06:09):
researched in order to provide the missing link in the
history of a people and the history of a nation.
So that was a quote from us Shocklely, and Walker
goes on to say, here we see a bold statement
that alludes to the deficiencies of cataloging and classification systems
that have historically marginalized non wide, non Western materials. Black
(06:29):
special collections then can be seen to have a liberating,
emancipating function. Such collections, rather than relegating materials about the
experience of Black people to a subordinate status, instead elevate
them to a level that is at least on part
with libraries, primary or main collections. Again, so important to
be represented in libraries, and her boldness in advocating for
(06:52):
the availability of having more black writers and books has
made a long and lasting impact as well as her
own books. As we mentioned previously, her book Loving Her
was groundbreaking. So going back to that binhere dot org article,
they write she was one of the first women to
write about lesbian, especially black lesbian experiences, and likely the
(07:12):
first to publish a novel centering on a black lesbian protagonist.
Her groundbreaking book Loving Her was the first to explore
a black lesbian protagonist in an interracial relationship. She wrote
about what interested her and not what was socially acceptable,
making her a pioneer in the black LGBTQ plus literature field.
So this book garnered her the award of Lee Lynch
(07:35):
Classic Award, but also garnered some critiques. So from what
I gather, she's not actually a lesbian, but she does
find that something that needs to be spoken about. In
nineteen seventy four, what she did was truly something new
and unheard of. And here's a bit from her Wikipedia
(08:00):
page which he I know Wikipedia can be mistaken, but
they did a great job in trying to get her
remembered and made sure that her legacy is going to
be lasting, so they wrote this. Journalists have come out
that goes as far as to say that Shockli complicates
same gender loving as well as problematizes it through her
characterizations of African American people who also happen to be homosexual.
(08:23):
Along with this, some argue that Shackleli uses too many
generalizations in her text, has a poor stylistic choice, and
did not work to battle common stereotypes about black lesbianism.
In her first novel, Loving Her, the main character, Renee,
chooses to live her life as a lesbian, but still
performs stereotypically heteronormative notions on romance, which works against Shackli's
(08:45):
supposed intentions of exposing what a lesbian relationship really is
like in the late twentieth century. However, as the first
novel representing an interracial relationship between two women, Loving Her
does not exist within a historical framework in which it
could serve as a satirical response too, so it is
sometimes have been interpreted as a naive reinforcement of heteronormative
(09:05):
and racist ideas about queer relationships and black webpon rather
than a potentially self aware piece. Nonetheless, the fictional novel
is still admittingly one of the first of its kind. Again,
of course, like the author of this Wikipedia page does
point out, it could have a lot to do with
a time frame, so like it's very new, it's something new,
So maybe she was making a satirical point if she
(09:27):
is not actually a lesbian, which again I just saw
that in one article saying that she was not. This
could be a part of the problem as well as
how do you reinvent or have a conversation about something
that was so taboo in a time that people were
out today even today even there's problematic things in what
they think is representing in a good way, but they're
(09:50):
underlying whether it's misogyny or underlying misogyniir all of this
may come out without realizing it is coming maybe with
good intentions, all those things. This is deep conversation, especially
a book in nineteen seventy four. She moved to do
something really radical at that point in time, so there's
a lot of conversations that could be had. I've seen
other articles specifically written by like black queer publications that
(10:13):
talk about you still have to give her her flowers
like it was an amazing thing. I think they celebrated
this book last year and as being the fiftieth anniversary
of the release of this book and how it was
it was in an international level it was published on
that level. Again, a lot of things to be talked about,
but no matter what, we know that Chocolate has been
doing amazing advocacy work in order to preserve history as
(10:36):
well as giving recognition to those who are too often erased,
especially in this day and age. We know librarians are
being attacked, we know libraries are being attacked, we know
black writers are being attacked. We know that CRT is
being attacked. So all of this conversation that she has
fought for since her childhood is so important to remember
and we want to celebrate and thank her for her
(10:57):
work because this is huge in what she has done
with her life.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yes, Yes, and very cool books to add to our list.
Always love that while listeners let us know if you
have any thoughts or suggestions for upcoming segments. You can
email us at Hello at step Whenever Told You dot com.
You can find us on Blue Sky at most of podcasts,
or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff When Never Told
You also on YouTube. We have a tap up a
(11:23):
store and to read the book you can get wherever
you get your books, maybe your library. And thanks as
always to your super producer Christina or executive cchriuser Maya
and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you
for listening stuff and never told us boction of my
Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you
can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts wherever
you listen to your favorite shows
Okay, this is Sandy and Samantha and welcome to steff
WM Never told you production by Hear Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So we are writing this on April tenth, although publishing
it on April fifteenth, so you know, a little bit,
little bit delayed. We got this though, so but April
tenth was in the middle of National Library Week, so
we wanted to take the time to celebrate with an
activist or an activist librarian as she is known, also
(00:39):
a writer, journalist, so many other things, an Alan Shockley
who is still with us, so of course we've got
to celebrate while she's still with us. Shockley has made
a profound impact in the world with her works and
advocacy since her childhood in Louisville, Kentucky, which she was
born I believed in nineteen twenty seven. Shockley has been
influenced by books and writings her entire life. Teachers and
(01:02):
mentors encouraged her to write and read, seeing her talents
and creativity, so in high school she would take her
talents and use them for her high school newspaper and
would continue on to get her degree in college at
Fisk University, as well as received her Masters in Library
Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in nineteen fifty nine.
(01:23):
So again, even back then, you were supposed to get
a master's in order to work in the library. That's
so such an invest amount of work, right, So here's
a bit about her from benhair dot Org quote in
Alan Shockley was born on June twenty first, nineteen twenty seven,
in Louisville, Kentucky. Her love of reading and writing started
(01:43):
at an early age. Harriet Leforest, her eighth grade teacher,
was her mentor, and Richard Writ's uncle Tom's Children was
an early influence on her writing. Shockley's introduction to writing
for the public started with her editing her high school newspaper.
She continued to write for various newspapers and graduated with
her her bachelor's degree from Fisk University in nineteen forty eight,
and in nineteen fifty nine, she received her master's degree
(02:06):
in library science from Case Western Reserve University. So she's
been at this for a while. During this time, she
married William Shockley in nineteen forty eight and had two children,
and she would go on to work as a librarian
at Delaware State College and at the University of Maryland
Eastern Shore and again would go on to work at
Fisk University. In fact, she would go on to serve
(02:28):
as Professor of Library Science at Fisk. She also was
the associate librarian for Special Collections there as well as
well as founded the Black Oral History Program. So here's
a bit more detail about her. From the book Knowledge
of Justice Disruption of Library and Information Studies through Critical
Race Theory, So contributor and writer Schandra Walker writes and
(02:52):
Alan Shockley a black activist librarian who wrote extensively on
the purpose and function of black special collections. Shockley, who
was a part of a continuum of black activist librarians,
was extraordinary that she raised important questions about the need
for special collections in libraries serving HBCUs, their function and
support of black studies programs on predominantly white campuses, and
(03:15):
the roles of librarians and publishers in developing and supporting
such collections. So a lot of amazing work. And with
her contributions to the library systems and advocating for more
African American literature and writings, she was contributing with her
own written work as well. She was a freelance columnist
from nineteen forty five to nineteen fifty four and worked
(03:36):
at different publishings such as The Louisville Defender, Fiske University Heralds,
and others, specifically talking about African American studies and subjects
and issues, as well as lgbt related issues. Here's a
bit more information from beinhere dot org. Again, she writes
about triple oppression, the internationality of racism, sexism, and homophobia
(03:56):
in the Black community, and stories and writings were inspired
by the Black civil rights the LGBTQ plus aberration, and
the women's rights movements. And again from Schandra Walker, she
writes she's best known for her literary works centering the
lives of black lesbians. Her novels Loving Her, published in
nineteen seventy four, The Black and White of It published
(04:17):
in nineteen eighty, Say Jesus and Come to Me nineteen
eighty two, and Celebrating Hotsch Law, published in two thousand
and five, illuminate the lives of an overlooked demographic. Her
writing exemplifies the very type of work that Black special
collections endeavor to preserve and make available once they illuminate
experiences that might otherwise be unnoticed and undervalued by other collections.
(04:39):
In addition to her literary work, she also authored Afro
American Women Writers seventeen forty six, nineteen thirty three and
Anthology and Critical Guide nineteen eighty eight. Reportedly, the reference
work was a labor of love for her, as she
received no grant or clerical support, and she began assembling
it in nineteen seventy eight using extra time on holidays
and over summers, and describe being her inspiration for the work,
(05:01):
She stated quote, I shared a personal empathy with many
of these women whose problems mirrored my own and those
of women writers throughout the centuries. Yeah, and unsurprisingly, her
work and advocacy put her in a place of legacy
as an activist librarian. But honestly, we don't see a
lot of that conversation. But thanks to people like Walker,
we are able to get a better understanding of the
(05:23):
obvious crossovers of librarians and activism. I love that because
I will say, when I was trying to look up
specifically those who are activists, I see some historical figures,
but that was not a lot that they talk about.
I guess, you know, we don't celebrate librarians enough so
that might be part of this problem. So in her
time doing this very tedious work, she has talked about
(05:46):
why collections like the African American writings and works are
so important in being available to the public. And again
this is from the Walker chapter from that book. She says,
this type of special collection made available through the gathering
of books and other materials allows for more comprehensive consideration
and treatment of a certain phase of history, long neglected
and misinterpreted, which by necessity must be studied, examined, and
(06:09):
researched in order to provide the missing link in the
history of a people and the history of a nation.
So that was a quote from us Shocklely, and Walker
goes on to say, here we see a bold statement
that alludes to the deficiencies of cataloging and classification systems
that have historically marginalized non wide, non Western materials. Black
(06:29):
special collections then can be seen to have a liberating,
emancipating function. Such collections, rather than relegating materials about the
experience of Black people to a subordinate status, instead elevate
them to a level that is at least on part
with libraries, primary or main collections. Again, so important to
be represented in libraries, and her boldness in advocating for
(06:52):
the availability of having more black writers and books has
made a long and lasting impact as well as her
own books. As we mentioned previously, her book Loving Her
was groundbreaking. So going back to that binhere dot org article,
they write she was one of the first women to
write about lesbian, especially black lesbian experiences, and likely the
(07:12):
first to publish a novel centering on a black lesbian protagonist.
Her groundbreaking book Loving Her was the first to explore
a black lesbian protagonist in an interracial relationship. She wrote
about what interested her and not what was socially acceptable,
making her a pioneer in the black LGBTQ plus literature field.
So this book garnered her the award of Lee Lynch
(07:35):
Classic Award, but also garnered some critiques. So from what
I gather, she's not actually a lesbian, but she does
find that something that needs to be spoken about. In
nineteen seventy four, what she did was truly something new
and unheard of. And here's a bit from her Wikipedia
(08:00):
page which he I know Wikipedia can be mistaken, but
they did a great job in trying to get her
remembered and made sure that her legacy is going to
be lasting, so they wrote this. Journalists have come out
that goes as far as to say that Shockli complicates
same gender loving as well as problematizes it through her
characterizations of African American people who also happen to be homosexual.
(08:23):
Along with this, some argue that Shackleli uses too many
generalizations in her text, has a poor stylistic choice, and
did not work to battle common stereotypes about black lesbianism.
In her first novel, Loving Her, the main character, Renee,
chooses to live her life as a lesbian, but still
performs stereotypically heteronormative notions on romance, which works against Shackli's
(08:45):
supposed intentions of exposing what a lesbian relationship really is
like in the late twentieth century. However, as the first
novel representing an interracial relationship between two women, Loving Her
does not exist within a historical framework in which it
could serve as a satirical response too, so it is
sometimes have been interpreted as a naive reinforcement of heteronormative
(09:05):
and racist ideas about queer relationships and black webpon rather
than a potentially self aware piece. Nonetheless, the fictional novel
is still admittingly one of the first of its kind. Again,
of course, like the author of this Wikipedia page does
point out, it could have a lot to do with
a time frame, so like it's very new, it's something new,
So maybe she was making a satirical point if she
(09:27):
is not actually a lesbian, which again I just saw
that in one article saying that she was not. This
could be a part of the problem as well as
how do you reinvent or have a conversation about something
that was so taboo in a time that people were
out today even today even there's problematic things in what
they think is representing in a good way, but they're
(09:50):
underlying whether it's misogyny or underlying misogyniir all of this
may come out without realizing it is coming maybe with
good intentions, all those things. This is deep conversation, especially
a book in nineteen seventy four. She moved to do
something really radical at that point in time, so there's
a lot of conversations that could be had. I've seen
other articles specifically written by like black queer publications that
(10:13):
talk about you still have to give her her flowers
like it was an amazing thing. I think they celebrated
this book last year and as being the fiftieth anniversary
of the release of this book and how it was
it was in an international level it was published on
that level. Again, a lot of things to be talked about,
but no matter what, we know that Chocolate has been
doing amazing advocacy work in order to preserve history as
(10:36):
well as giving recognition to those who are too often erased,
especially in this day and age. We know librarians are
being attacked, we know libraries are being attacked, we know
black writers are being attacked. We know that CRT is
being attacked. So all of this conversation that she has
fought for since her childhood is so important to remember
and we want to celebrate and thank her for her
(10:57):
work because this is huge in what she has done
with her life.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yes, Yes, and very cool books to add to our list.
Always love that while listeners let us know if you
have any thoughts or suggestions for upcoming segments. You can
email us at Hello at step Whenever Told You dot com.
You can find us on Blue Sky at most of podcasts,
or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff When Never Told
You also on YouTube. We have a tap up a
(11:23):
store and to read the book you can get wherever
you get your books, maybe your library. And thanks as
always to your super producer Christina or executive cchriuser Maya
and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you
for listening stuff and never told us boction of my
Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you
can check out the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts wherever
you listen to your favorite shows
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