The third annual Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Fair sponsored by Stanford Libraries took place on October 25 on the East Wing patio of Green Library. “We use the acronym JEDI rather than the conventional DEI to emphasize that diversity programs must put Justice first to be effective,” said the event organizers, Racial Justice & Social Equity Librarian Felicia A. Smith and User Experience Designer for Digital Library Systems & Services Astrid M. Usong.
Exhibitors at the JEDI Fair showcased social justice archives from the library and distributed information about DEI initiatives happening around campus, with a goal of empowering students to get involved in making the university and community more just and equitable. Afterwards, fairgoers enjoyed listening to selections from the recently acquired Dijkstra Black Music Collection, a vast collection of Black music on vinyl spanning a wide range of genres.
On the prior day in conjunction with the JEDI Fair, the Rainbow Coalition Alumni Panel, consisting of former student activists who participated in the original Take Back the Mic protest and Rainbow Coalition, took place. “Stanford’s new African & African American Studies Department is a direct result of the Take Back the Mic protest,” Smith said. “The issues raised by the Rainbow Agenda were listed in the ‘University Committee on Minority Affairs’ Final Report’ and we continue to seek measurable progress on them.”
“Panel discussions are an integral part of the JEDI Fair,” said Smith and Usong. “To build upon the success of last year’s Women of the Black Panther Party panel, we invited members of the student groups who created Stanford’s Rainbow Coalition. In 1987, those groups included the Asian American Student Association, the Black Student Union, the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, and the Stanford American Indian Association. The Black Panther Party's original Rainbow Coalition included Disability organizations. On that model, we expanded the 2023 ‘Rainbow’ to include advocates for LGBTQIA+, Racial Justice, Environmental Justice, Mental Health, Neurodiversity, and other social issues.”
“Since the activism of our panelists was already well documented in University Archives,” the JEDI Fair organizers explained, “we took the opportunity to show current students that the ‘archives are alive’ – one of the keynote themes of our panel - and that their actions today could one day become part of the historical record. We are especially grateful to the visiting alumni panelists who effectively protested and built coalitions to implement change at the university. We trust that current student activists learned from their stories and perhaps asked themselves, ‘What type of ancestors do we want to be?’”