Resources

Women at Murray State University

• The First Women of Murray State University. Murray State University Libraries 

• Nancy Tyler Demartra, “MSU's First African American Graduate Speaks on Human and Civil Rights Accomplishments” (2015) WKMS

• “Florence Hudspeth: Growing up in a Segregated Murray, 1940s & 50s” (2016) Special Collections on WKMS, 

• “Fulton's Ouida Jewell Preserved History, Traveled the World & Dreamed of Flying” (2016) Special Collections on WKMS, 

• “How a West KY Native Became the First African American Woman on the Civil Service Commission” (2016) Special Collections on WKMS, 

• “Remembering June Laffoon Taylor's Lifelong Career in Kentucky Politics” (2016) Special Collections on WKMS, 

• “The Incredible Life of Alney Alba, Calloway Co. Born Actress & Poet” (2016) Special Collections on WKMS 

Helen LaFrance (Nov. 2, 1919 - Nov. 22, 2020), self-taught artist from Mayfield

• Helen LaFrance: Memories (2020) Youtube 

• You can view some of her works at the Paducah School of Art Monday's and Wednesdays from 9 AM to 12 PM or by appointment.

  • Learn more about how the Paducah Historical Preservation Group (PHPG) acquired LaFrance’s works!

bell hooks (1952-2021) educator, author, theorist from Hopkinsville

• Becoming bell hooks (2024) PBS/KET

The Metropolitan Hotel, Paducah: Historic Black hotel owned and operated by women including Maggie M. Steed, Mamie Burbridge Guise and Betty Dobson

• “Welcome to the Hotel Metropolitan!” Middle of Everywhere Podcast (2 February 2021) 

Mary S. Wheeler (1892–1976) musician, teacher, song collector/archivist from Paducah

• Mary Wheeler Collection, McCracken County Public Library

• “Mary Wheeler, Paducah’s Songcatcher” Kentucky Historical Society

• Read “Finding Pauli Murray: The Black Queer Feminist Civil Rights Lawyer Priest who co-founded NOW, but that History Nearly Forgot,” NOW (October 2016)

• My Name Is Pauli Murray (2021)

• Learn about the Lavender Menace, a group of lesbians who challenged homophobia within NOW to make it more inclusive 

• Learn about Christian F. Nunes, the second Black/African American president of NOW

• Moira Donegan, “The Catalyst: Betty Friedan and the movement that outgrew her,” The New Yorker (September 2023)

• “The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture,” FromDismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork, 2001

• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

• A YEAR OF ANTI-RACISM WORK, start one week at a time.

• LINK TO OTHER ANTI-RACISM RESOURCES

• 125 Black-Owned Businesses to support

• Breonna Taylor Fact Sheet

• www.embracerace.com  — Resources for children

• BOB Bookstores List

• Martinsville, VA: https://www.booksandcranniesva.com/

• Chicago: http://www.semicolonchi.com/

• Cafe con Libros

• Cafe con Libros — which means “coffee with books” in Spanish — is an intersectional feminist community bookstore and coffee shop in Prospect Heights.

• Frugal Bookstore

• Located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Frugal Bookstore is a community bookstore with the motto, “Changing Minds One Book at a Time.”

• Harriett’s Bookshop

• Named after Harriet Tubman, this bookstore in Philadelphia’s Fishtown specializes in books by women authors.

• For Keeps Books

• For Keeps Books is an Atlanta-based bookstore that carries rare and classic Black literature as well as records and T-shirts. —Hilary Reid

• Fulton Street Books and Coffee

• Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fulton Street Books has curated an Ally Box, which is “is a three-month limited book subscription for allies (and those who seek to be allies).” The first one ships on July 1.

• The Lit. Bar

• The Lit. Bar, which opened in 2019, is the only bookstore in the Bronx, serving the borough’s 1.5 million residents.

• Loving Me Books

• Angela Nesbitt, a registered behavioral therapist, created Loving Me Books to bring parents and children books with more diverse characters and story lines. You can buy from her online stock, but she also provides services to schools, day-care centers, and book fairs.

• Mahogany Books

• Mahogany Books started as an online bookstore a decade ago, specializing in books “written for, by, or about people of the African Diaspora.” It opened a storefront in Washington, D.C., in 2017, and is still committed to making books accessible to all.

• Malik Books

• Malik Books is an independent bookstore in Los Angeles that specializes in works by African American authors and programming centered on African American culture, like a Nipsey Hussle reading list that celebrates the L.A. rapper’s legacy. –Aisha Rickford

• Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery

• Semicolon is Chicago’s only Black woman-owned bookstore.

• Sister’s Uptown Bookstore

• Sister’s Uptown has been serving Washington Heights for 20 years, opened and operated by Janifer Wilson and her daughter Kori. They sell their books online via oneKin and recently put together a “Consciousness Reading Book Guide” on Instagram.

• Source of Knowledge

• Newark’s only African American–owned bookstore Source of Knowledge had to close because of the coronavirus. It is running a GoFundMe to help keep the family business alive, continue to serve the community, and feed its employees. —Liza Corsillo

History & Culture of Black Kentuckian Women

• Explore the artwork of late Mayfield artist Helen LaFrance. You can view some of her works at the Paducah School of Art Monday's and Wednesdays from 9 AM to 12 PM or by appointment.

  • Learn more about how the Paducah Historical Preservation Group (PHPG) acquired LaFrance’s works!

• Learn about Murray State Firsts: Mary Ford Holland (first African-American student at Murray State University) & Nancy Tyler Demarta (the first African-American graduate at Murray State University) 

• Read bell hook’s Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood available at the CCPL 

History of Segregation & Discrimination against Black communities and individuals in West Kentucky

• Listen to oral history interviews about School Desegregation in Western Kentucky, Kentucky Oral History Commission. 

• Read about the history of Birmingham, KY 

• Learn about the case of Lube Martin

Historical Sites and Celebrations of Black community in West Kentucky

• Hotel Metropolitan, Paducah, KY

  o   Listen to “Welcome to the Hotel Metropolitan!” Middle Of Everywhere podcast episode, 

• Cherokee State Park, Aurora, KY 

  • Watch “Voices of Cherokee State Park” 

• Douglass High School, Murray, KY, 

  • Watch “Looking Back—Douglass High School” about the Douglass School in Murray 

• Hopkinsville-Christian County

  • Explore the exhibits on Black History at the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County 

• August 8th: Emancipation Celebration in western KY and TN

  • Watch “The Eighth of August,” KET, 

• Watch “Living the Story: The Civil Rights Movement in Kentucky,” KET 

Black individuals who helped develop and shape the National Organization for Women

• Read “Finding Pauli Murray: The Black Queer Feminist Civil Rights Lawyer Priest who co-founded NOW, but that History Nearly Forgot,” NOW (October 2016)

• Learn about Christian F. Nunes, the second Black/African American president of NOW

Public History Collections & Guides

• Kentucky Educational Television Black History Month 2025

• Kentucky Historical Society 

• McCracken County Public Library

• Murray State University Libraries

West KY NOW stands in solidarity with community efforts to have the Robert E. Lee Confederate monument removed from the downtown, court square of Murray. The statue does not represent the values of NOW, nor its chapter members, local and national. We will continue to work towards racial justice and efforts to remove symbols that do not reflect that understanding.

If you would like to know more information contact us via email: westkynow@gmail.com

Constance Alexander 12/29/2020 KY Forward opinion piece here, Isn’t it about time our communities remove symbols of oppression

Constance Alexander 12/15/2020 KY Forward opinion piece here, Yes Virginia, that is a Confederate statue in the center of this friendly town

Calloway County Health Department

• Confidential STI testing and treatment: free with medicaid; less than $50 out of pocket

• Breastfeeding peer counselor support: free for individuals enrolled in WIC

• Harm Reduction: free distribution of Narcan and instructions on use

• Telehealth Services: virtual appointments for various services including Birth Control, UTI & etc. Cost depends upon insurance.

• Birth Control options guide: overview of different birth control options, including cost and effectiveness

• Cancer guide: overview of different reproductive cancers, explanation of tests, and vaccines

KHJN Abortion Support

•  Fund Hotline: Intake form or call 1-855-576-4576

​Trans Health Advocacy

• Options include: Advocacy and Emotional Support, Advice and Assistance Navigating Insurance, Financial Assistance for Gender Affirming Care, Community and Provider Education, Financial Assistance for Gender Affirming Items, and ​Legislative Advocacy

• Resource Portal 

• For more information, email transhealth@khjn.org

Find LGBTQ+ friendly healthcare near you. https://lgbtqhealthcaredirectory.org/

• LivWell Community Health Services

• Kentucky Virtual Health Center

• Carbondale Health Center

• Kentucky Health Justice Network

  • Resource Portal that includes list of HRT & Primary Care providers, Mental Health providers, Surgeons, HIV testing/PrEP, etc.

• National Hotline for Mental Health Crisis and Suicide Prevention: 1-800-950-6264, text 'NAMI' to 62640, or email. In a crisis, call or text 988.

• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 to reach a trained Crisis Counselor 

• Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860

• The LGBT National Hotline: 1-888-843-4564

• The Trevor Project: Text ‘START’ to 678-678, call 1-866-488-7386, or chat through their website

• Sage-Advocacy & Services for LGBTQ+ Elders

• The Rainbow Youth Project: 1-317- 643-4888

• National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network

• Fairness Campaign

• Kentucky Human Rights Commission

  • Form to file a complaint

• Murray Human Rights Commission

  • Murray Human Rights Ordinance Complaint Form

• Paducah Human Rights Commission

• Murray KY Pride

• Parents with Pride: support group for parents of LGBTQ+ youth

• Paducah Pride United Together

• Outfit, Inc.

• LGBTQ+ Friends and Advocates

Articles 

• Reading for LGBTQ+ Pride Month 

• “Finding Pauli Murray: The Black Queer Feminist Civil Rights Lawyer Priest who co-founded NOW, but that History Nearly Forgot,” NOW (October 2016)

• Amy Shern, “Pauli Murray: Eleanor Roosevelt’s Brilliant (Black, Feminist, Queer, Trailblazing) Friend,”  J-Stor (March 2016) 

• Livia Gershon, “How NOW Started Standing Up for Lesbians,” J-Stor (March 2021)

Books

• Koa Beck, White Feminism From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind(2021) 

  • In her book, Koa Beck calls for collective action to demolish white feminism and build a more radical and inclusive movement in its place

• Pauli Murray, Dark Testament and Other Poems(1970/2018)

  • Dark Testament is a touchstone to understand how a unique and powerful African-American sense of self came into being. Unlike the fantasy of the exceptional, self-reliant “individual” so key to the American myth and the American lyric, Murray's work documents an often oppositional sense of collective Black experience.

• Jen Jack Gieseking, A Queer New York(2020)

  • Focusing on well-known neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, Park Slope, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Crown Heights, Gieseking shows how lesbian and queer neighborhoods have folded under the capitalist influence of white, wealthy gentrifiers who have ultimately failed to make room for them.

• George M. Johnson, All Boys Aren’t Blue (2020)

  • In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.

• Anne Balay, Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Steelworkers(2014) 

  • Through the powerful voices of queer steelworkers themselves, Steel Closets provides rich insight into an understudied part of the LGBT population, contributing to a grow

Poetry 

• Charley Allen-Dunn, The Scar It Leaves(2024)  

• Constance Alexander, “Counting Coup” (2017) Reprinted  in the Murray Sentinel 

• Willie Edward Taylor Carver, Jr., Gay Poems for Red States(2023) 

Movies & Documentaries

• My Name Is Pauli Murray (2021) My Name Is Pauli Murray is an 2021 American documentary film, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, written by West, Cohen, Talleah Bridges McMahon and Cinque Northern. It follows the life of lawyer and activist Pauli Murray.

• The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde(2002) This powerful documentary is a moving tribute to legendary black lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde, One of the most celebrated icons of feminism's second wave. (This film is not readily available as the others listed but you can find segments of the film on YouTube).

• When We Rise(2017) TV Mini Series that is a chronicle re-telling of the gay rights movement in the United States, beginning with the Stonewall riots in 1969.

• I Am Not Your Negro (dir. Raoul Peck, 2016). Drawing its inspiration from Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, the Oscar-nominated doc is a powerful fusion of Baldwin’s words (read by Samuel L. Jackson), archived footage, and messages on how anti-Blackness has been deeply embedded into the fabric of America.

• Looking for Langston (dir. Isaac Julien, 1989) This film explores Black and white gay identities set in the Harlem Renaissance. Inspired by the life and work of poet Langston Hughes, Julien infuses poetry from Hughes, Bruce Nugent and Essex Hemphill with multiple genres of music to convey the expression and suppression of gay desire during that era.

• We Live Here: The Midwest (2023)Highlights the individual experiences of LGBTQI+ families who, in the face of discriminatory laws and rising hostility, are attempting to establish lives in their communities.

• PBS documentaries (see this list)

  • Prideland(2020) PBS Follow queer actor Dyllón Burnside on a journey to discover how LGBTQ Americans are finding ways to live authentically and with pride in the modern South.

  • Stonewall Uprising: American Experience (2020) 

  • Gladys Bentley: Gender-Bending Performer and Musician (2020)

Digitized newsletters & magazines

• Vice Versa, by Lisa Ben: A Historic Project of Edythe Eyde, digital project including copies of Vice Versa magazine, first published in 1947

• The Furies: Lesbian/Feminist Monthly, digital collection of first year of publication (1972)

• Onyx: Black Lesbian Newsletter, digital collection of issues from 1982 to 1984

Oral Histories

• Out South: LGBTQ+ Oral History Project, a partnership between the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History and the University of Kentucky’s Office of LGBTQ* Resources. Our central mission is to record oral histories in order to document the lives of Southern LGBTQ+ individuals and commemorate the ways those individuals have advanced.

• Appalachia: Lesbians and Gays in The Mountains Oral History Project This project contains interviews concerning the experiences of gays and lesbians in Appalachia.

• Queer Appalachia Oral History Project The Queer Appalachia Oral History Project captures the diverse stories of gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, and questioning individuals who grew up, and/or currently live in the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) designated Central Appalachian Region, especially Eastern Kentucky. The stories collected depict the conditions of growing up queer in Appalachia, starting with the 1960s onward. 

• Jeff Jones' GLBT Kentuckians Oral History Project This is a series of interviews with LGBTQ+ individuals living in Kentucky regarding their life experiences.