Q & A

The following Q&A comes from an email exchange with a reporter from The Aggie writing an article about the annual UC Davis Principles of Community (POC) week that took place in February, 2024. As curator of the exhibition, the reporter asked if I'd be willing to be interviewed as the library featured my exhibit for the POC event.

1. What is the exhibit about and what is its significance?

"By Any Means Necessary: Marginalized Students Give Voice in the Third World Forum" is a library exhibition highlighting the student newspaper the Third World Forum, which was printed for a number of years during the 1970s, ’80s and early 2000s. The library has recently digitized it and can now be accessed through the California Digital Newspaper Collection at http://tinyurl.com/2v3fh82v.

As part of the name of the exhibition, “By Any Means Necessary” is emblematic of the period in history when the Third World Forum was created. It was also the title of an editorial published by the newspaper calling for the elimination of racism and sexism. The Third World Forum started as a way for students of color at UC Davis to express themselves and bring awareness to social justice issues on campus. It started because students of color did not believe that the main student newspaper, The Aggie, was adequately representing their voices at that time.

2. What was the Third World Forum and its significance?

The Third World Forum (TWF) was a student-run, student-produced, student-published newspaper at UC Davis, established in 1970. Editors of the TWF hoped that the newspaper would:

• serve as a bridge between the communities that have been historically oppressed and the students of color, providing those students who are far away from their communities with information on what is happening within those communities,

• record the presence of the people of color on campus,

• be an alternative publication that counters the propaganda of the established media,

• and provide a voice for equality and justice.

3. Can students go see issues of the Third World Forum any time?

Hard copies of the TWF are located in the Archives and Special Collections (ASC) department in Shields Library. ASC is located on the first floor, to the left, as you enter the library. Review the Visitor Information page before arriving: https://library.ucdavis.edu/archives-and-special-collections/visitor-information/.

Folks do not have to come in person to read the TWF; access the entire run online at http://tinyurl.com/2v3fh82v.

4. Did the library do anything specific for Principles of Community Week or was it just an introduction of the exhibit? How does the exhibit relate to the message of Principles of Community Week?

As the Instruction and Outreach Librarian for Archives and Special Collections (ASC), I manage class visits where we focus on providing hands-on learning experiences and developing skills in using primary sources. Since my main audience is students, I've been thinking about planning this exhibition for the past few years as a way to:

• feature archival materials that would interest and appeal to students,

• provide a space/place where students could see themselves represented,

• and highlight topics that would resonate with students.

We routinely rotate in new exhibits a few times each year, which draw on materials from ASC and are often related to campus history. This exhibition [was] on display at Shields Library from January 12, 2024 through April 22, 2024, a time period that overlapped with Principles of Community Week.

The [2024] theme for Principles of Community Week [was] "Connecting as a Community," and for several generations of UC Davis students — particularly for historically marginalized student communities — that is what the Third World Forum represented. The Third World Forum was created by students of color as a platform to connect with one another, the issues they were passionate about, and world news of significance in their — or their parents’ — home countries. Student writers for the Third World Forum also called for freedom of expression and social justice, and challenged discrimination, racism and sexism on campus.

5. Anything else to add that wasn't asked and that might be important?

Learn more about Archives and Special Collections by watching the following video or visiting ASC's homepage: https://library.ucdavis.edu/archives-and-special-collections/.