“It’s Right to Rebel!” Student Exhibit Celebrates Resistance and Solidarity

L-R: SJSU graduate students Karl Grunwald, Alena Karkanias and Elise Mills have curated “But Often It Rhymes: Suppression, Resistance, and Solidarity in San José” — a powerful new exhibit unveiling decades of resistance, resilience and solidarity from 1965 to 2005. Photo courtesy of the SJSU King Library Marketing team.

On the fifth floor of SJSU King Library, three iSchool students brought history to life, unboxing, curating and arranging San José’s stories of resistance in the Reading Room display cases. Through carefully chosen artifacts, ephemera, poetry and other primary materials, they wove a powerful narrative of courage and persistence, revealing how generations of local activists have challenged and resisted systems of power and oppression across decades.

Alena Karkanias, ’27 MLIS; Karl Grunwald, ’27 MARA (records and archives), and Elise Mills, ’27 MLIS, have curated “But Often It Rhymes: Suppression, Resistance, and Solidarity in San José” — a powerful new exhibit unveiling decades of resistance, resilience and solidarity from 1965 to 2005. On display in the Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) Reading Room through January 15, 2026, the exhibit invites visitors to see how the struggles of the past continue to resonate today.

“But Often it Rhymes” will be on display at King Library until January 15, 2026.

The student-led exhibit highlights how Black, Queer, Chicano, and Native American liberation movements, alongside labor groups, women’s organizations, anti-war coalitions and nuclear disarmament advocates, resisted oppression. Their work sheds light on the ways San José communities organized against U.S. intervention abroad, while also fighting police brutality, homophobia and racism at home.

“I loved the experience of getting to dig through the archives to find items to put into this exhibit,” says Karkanias. “It was incredible to get to interact with so many primary documents from the social, political and cultural histories of the area — it makes it feel so close and alive, and makes me even more emotionally invested in the community.”

Drawing on rich archival collections — including the Fred Hirsch Ephemera Collection, the Ted Sahl Social Justice Collection, and the SJSU Civil Rights and Campus Protest Collection — students carefully selected artifacts, ephemera and rare documents to illustrate both the persistence of suppression and the power of solidarity. 

“It was very difficult to decide which materials to include,” says Mill. “My favorite visual pieces are ‘Seven Revolutionary Poems’ and a National Committee to Combat Fascism rally flyer. Both highlight the themes that echo throughout the exhibit — resistance, creativity and community.”

All three students, but especially Grunwald, hope everyone who visits the exhibit leaves with an experience that personally resonates with them. 

“I hope viewing the exhibit marks the beginning of the viewer’s relationship with SC&A, not the end,” says Grunwald.

Special Collections Librarian Kate Steffens, ’19 MLIS, supervised the students and shared her extensive curatorial experience, building their archival skills to access, explore and discover primary sources that revisit and recount stories untold. 

“Exhibits are an excellent way to teach students how to curate and arrange archival materials in a way that tells a story about how the past and present connect,” says Steffens. “Working directly with archival materials allows our student assistants to learn more about what we have in SJSU’s vast archives and to find materials they resonate with.”

Special Collection exhibits highlight the depth and diversity of SJSU King Library’s physical and digital collections, providing students, faculty and community members with the opportunity to access materials and sources elevating their research and curiosity.

Get engaged by exploring the SJSU Special Collections & Archives website, which includes hours, search guides, and how to contact our helpful librarians. 

Discover San Jose’s advocacy history by visiting the reading room’s “But Often It Rhymes: Suppression, Resistance, and Solidarity in San José” exhibit before it closes on January 15th, 2026. Explore how to embed primary resources in your curriculum or extra credit opportunities by emailing special.collections@sjsu.edu. 

On the fifth floor of SJSU King Library, three iSchool students brought history to life, unboxing, curating and arranging San José’s stories of resistance in the Reading Room display cases. Through carefully chosen artifacts, ephemera, poetry and other primary materials, they wove a powerful narrative of courage and persistence, revealing how generations of local activists have challenged and resisted systems of power and oppression across decades.

Alena Karkanias, ’27 MLIS; Karl Grunwald, ’27 MARA (records and archives), and Elise Mills, ’27 MLIS, have curated “But Often It Rhymes: Suppression, Resistance, and Solidarity in San José” — a powerful new exhibit unveiling decades of resistance, resilience and solidarity from 1965 to 2005. On display in the Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) Reading Room through January 15, 2026, the exhibit invites visitors to see how the struggles of the past continue to resonate today.

The student-led exhibit highlights how Black, Queer, Chicano, and Native American liberation movements, alongside labor groups, women’s organizations, anti-war coalitions and nuclear disarmament advocates, resisted oppression. Their work sheds light on the ways San José communities organized against U.S. intervention abroad, while also fighting police brutality, homophobia and racism at home.

“I loved the experience of getting to dig through the archives to find items to put into this exhibit,” says Karkanias. “It was incredible to get to interact with so many primary documents from the social, political and cultural histories of the area — it makes it feel so close and alive, and makes me even more emotionally invested in the community.”

Drawing on rich archival collections — including the Fred Hirsch Ephemera Collection, the Ted Sahl Social Justice Collection, and the SJSU Civil Rights and Campus Protest Collection — students carefully selected artifacts, ephemera and rare documents to illustrate both the persistence of suppression and the power of solidarity. 

“It was very difficult to decide which materials to include,” says Mill. “My favorite visual pieces are ‘Seven Revolutionary Poems’ and a National Committee to Combat Fascism rally flyer. Both highlight the themes that echo throughout the exhibit — resistance, creativity and community.”

All three students, but especially Grunwald, hope everyone who visits the exhibit leaves with an experience that personally resonates with them. 

“I hope viewing the exhibit marks the beginning of the viewer’s relationship with SC&A, not the end,” says Grunwald.

Special Collections Librarian Kate Steffens, ’19 MLIS, supervised the students and shared her extensive curatorial experience, building their archival skills to access, explore and discover primary sources that revisit and recount stories untold. 

“Exhibits are an excellent way to teach students how to curate and arrange archival materials in a way that tells a story about how the past and present connect,” says Steffens. “Working directly with archival materials allows our student assistants to learn more about what we have in SJSU’s vast archives and to find materials they resonate with.”

Special Collection exhibits highlight the depth and diversity of SJSU King Library’s physical and digital collections, providing students, faculty and community members with the opportunity to access materials and sources elevating their research and curiosity.

Get engaged by exploring the SJSU Special Collections & Archives website, which includes hours, search guides, and how to contact our helpful librarians. 

Discover San Jose’s advocacy history by visiting the reading room’s “But Often It Rhymes: Suppression, Resistance, and Solidarity in San José” exhibit before it closes on January 15th, 2026. Explore how to embed primary resources in your curriculum or extra credit opportunities by emailing special.collections@sjsu.edu.