How You Living?

No, I’m not going political today. I’ve been working on this piece for a while and I think today’s a good a day as any to post it. Let’s think about our personal legacy, how we’re living, and making decisions that affect others. What expectations do we have of our leaders in that regard?

When I began developing this space, I was really caught on the idea of legacy. Getting close to retirement has me thinking about my lasting contributions both to the field and to the library where I work. Oh, I’ll continue be involved in literacy in other capacities, but I’ll be doing things that speak to my soul and, for me that translates to working for the the common good.

Other considerations of legacy come from serving on the ALSC Legacy Committee, where we consider the legacy of children’s authors. There, legacy is limited to published works.

I consider Daphne Brooks and Kara Keeling talking about the work of stewardship, considering geniuses whose legacy is contextualized by their community and by historical moments.

Brooks and Keeling align with my thoughts about the work of a creator or leader in their community, not just in front of their community. For example, Quincy Jones.

The man, no doubt was pure genius. We’re hearing so much about his musical accomplishments, but when someone dies, I always want to know what that icon really did. How did they treat people? What did they do in their everyday life? How did they live their life? Particularly with iconic men I want to know that because of the access they have to young women, but I digress. Here are a few things about Quincy Jones.

1985: Jones rallied artists to collaborate on the anthem “We Are the World,” raising aid to support victims of famine in Ethiopia.

1995: Jones lobbied Congress to successfully preserve a tax break to help minority-owned broadcasting companies, including his own Qwest Productions.

1999: He collaborated with Bono and Bob Geldof to raise $27 billion dollars that went toward debt relief for Mozambique, Ivory Coast, and Bolivia.

2001: Jones founded the Quincy Jones Listen Up! Foundation to support young people across the globe by connecting them through music and technology.

He supported 23 charities and foundations.

For some reason, we don’t hear these things, only his musical accomplishments. People who are really doing this work, don’t do it for public consumption but, it still becomes part of their legacy.

So many of our authors, publishers, and editors do this same sort of work. Most are involved in children’s literature because they truly care about children. As their success grows, they begin pulling others up. Some create foundations, while others often donate to funds that develop online. I think we’d all be extremely humbled to know what is being done in our field beyond the creation of books.

So what do we do with this? How much of this work do we even need to know? I think of how Ashley Hope Perez and George Johnson have not backed down when censors attack their work. Perez and Johnson see the bigger picture, the need for all children to have access to all the voices. In her Zena Sutherland Lecture, Meg Medina pondered, “how can I take up the space I’ve worked for and still lend a hand to and make room for others at the same time?” I think if our young people are going to look up to Jacqueline Woodson, Paula Yoo, Lizette Serrano, or Alex Gino, then they need to know the fullness of their character. They should be as inspired by the kindnesses these icons perform as much as by the quality of their works. At the end of the day, love is all that remains.

I don’t know what to do with this. I guess Quincy Jones is still inspiring.

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