Words: @led_black
Video: @reemsavi
A library is more than a mere building. It is a citadel of learning and possibility. Libraries open doors, eyes and minds. Especially in poor neighborhoods, libraries are even more indispensable. In short, libraries are sacred.
As a kid growing up poor in Washington Heights, my library, The Fort Washington Branch, was an oasis of calm and tranquility amid the madness that engulfed my hood back in the day.
This is the Inwood Library being demolished earlier this week. More than a building was destroyed. This library meant so much to so many. The edifice is gone but the memories linger. Let’s work to ensure the new library that takes its place lives up to the hopes and expectations of this community.
Sometimes it feels like everything we cherished from our past is vanishing before our eyes. That we are powerless against the forces of greed and gentrification. That is the not case though. We have power. We are powerful. This is OURS!
Press play below for the Inwood Library Dedication from September 5, 1952 courtesy of WNYC.
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