Innovation is Crucial to Success: Antiracism is Crucial to Innovation

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

It is our duty to win.

We must love each other and support each other.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

Assata Shakur

American Hero and Revolutionary

Innovation is so much more than technology!  True innovation will only come when we break the incestuous cycle of white supremacist knowledge production.  We need new voices and those voices are standing right here.  Real innovation will come when people who created Hip-Hop, Jazz, Rock and Roll--when the people who created flavor in American cuisine and who pretty much generate American culture throughout the continent are involved in information production and knowledge creation.  Indigenous, Black, Brown, and other people of color will create a groundswell like never before once they are allowed to fully function within the academy.  We will change education's structures, its techniques, its goals, its meaning.  We are the harbingers of change and we are here now.  

Education is Stale

Education is stale, the ideas are backward and the time for change is now.  New blood, new ideas and finally--some progress in society--not just progress in making tools.  Western people are the best tool makers, but have little to no idea about how to live with one another and how to create good human relations--which lead to real security.  Not the false security that guns everywhere provide, but the real security of knowing that your neighbor’s fate and experience directly relate to your own. 

The truth is that Education needs us!  We bring flavor, new insights, conceptual relationships that white people don’t even know exist--we bring progress.  The academy needs to aggressively recruit people who have backgrounds from ‘marginalized’ communities and then allow these scholars to create radical change within our academic institutions.  This change is not something we are asking for--this change is something we bring and are announcing.  The backlash is on and we stand ready and strong--stronger than we have ever been.  We are at war--it is a cultural war.  We are bound to win, we must win--”we have a duty to win.”  

Ideas to speed up change:

• Create an action research center at your school that focuses on anti-oppression integration in education.  

• Block hire a BIPOC cohort into your school or organization.  

• Create support systems for BIPOC and other oppressed groups.

• Create support systems for antiracist activators and activists at your school--protect them and promote them!

• Create an EDI/Antiracist Handbook for your department--you have the expertise.  Research, learn, share and promote antiracist and anti oppression curriculum, pedagogies and systems.

• Use antiracism as a model for building other anti-oppression tactics for the liberation of all oppressed groups.

• Create and sustain affinity spaces for oppressed groups at your organization.

• Create partnerships with schools and other vocational training organizations to form a pipeline of BIPOC employment recruits.

• Empower BIPOC leaders to lead.

Until we have a system that has been created with BIPOC and other oppressed groups involved, we will never have equity, inclusion, diversity nor anti-oppression as part of our organizations.  We need NEW systems that have been co-created by BIPOC and that are inclusive and are not oppressive.  What are you doing today to create this needed change? This will necessitate the destruction of old structures.  There are many racists who are deeply invested in these shitstems--they must be defeated and these racist structures destroyed.  We will replace them with inclusive systems and structures that will create real progress for society.  

Racial Equity in Data Integration

Scientists, Mathematicians, Computer types and other data driven colleagues, please join us for a special antiracist session about how we can center racial equity throughout data integration in our work at PCC. 

Our guest speaker is Angela Bluhm! Event Date and Time: November 10th, 2020: 1pm PST Session description: Since 2019, AISP (Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy) at the University of Pennsylvania has led a diverse workgroup of civic data stakeholders to co-create strategies and identify best practices to center racial equity in data integration efforts. Angela Bluhm is an Analyst for the Educator Advancement Council in the Oregon Department of Education. Angela worked with the AISP while serving as Research, Data, and Communications Coordinator for the Oregon Longitudinal Data Collaborative in the Chief Education Office and later in the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC). Angela will discuss the work of the AISP, the Toolkit for Centering Racial Equity Throughout Data Integration, and ongoing work with Data and Equity. 

Recording link: https://lnkd.in/gQ9YPUm

 Link to toolkit: https://www.aisp.upenn.edu/centering-equity/

Risk Benefit Matrix Exercise

Link to folder of resources

The Cost of Equity Part One...

When 'equity' preconferences, workshops and other trainings are inequitable it defeats the purpose. 

I don't mean to call out LJ specifically--this is just an example of the absurdity of the cost of DEI training.

If your organization can afford to pay for you--then it is no problem.  But what about those who can't afford it?

Ask yourself how does this relate to inclusion and if this is the model libraries want to pursue.

We want affordable, practical, impactful equity training now!

What role does your State Library play in making equity training affordable for libraries in your state?

What role does your state library association play in making equity training available in all areas of your state?

Does your library make equity training available to you as a library worker?

If yes--that is awesome!

If not, what does this mean?

Equity work is library work and it should be made available to all library boards, staff, librarians and communities.

We have much work to do and we can do it together!

✊🏼❤️✊🏼

Free Speech Programming for Library Ideas and...

I humbly submit some programming ideas for my friends who work in libraries.

Do something different!

• Constitutional rights workshops
• Civics workshops
• How to avoid ICE
• DACA rights workshops
• Cannabis Consumer Workshops (In states where it is legal)
• Medical Cannabis patient workshops
• How to decolonize Education
• Activism Workshops
• Anti-Doxxing Workshops
• FreeSpeech versus HateSpeech Community Discussions
• Black History Programming
• How to monitor the police
• Patron electronic privacy workshops
• Marginalized people in Children's literature
• How to share electronic information anonymously 
• Ethnic Studies Workshops for local communities
• Archiving local neighborhood history
• How to build community
• How to get involved with local  public cable broadcasting
• How to publish a book
• How to blog
• How to be a neighborhood reporter
• How to start a news program
• How to write news articles
• How to be a public speaker
• How to listen
• How to argue
• How to self-reflect
• How to be a DJ
• How to break dance
• How to skateboard
• What is Punk Rock?
• What is Body Modification?
• Truths versus myths about recreational drugs
• What is empathy?
• What is Whiteness?
• What is BLM?
• Marginalized groups in comics
• What is Philosophy?
• What is Hip-hop?
• Where to get Mental Health assistance

To ALA or Not?

Someone on a list I'm on recently posted that they were hesitant to renew their ALA membership because of the recent ALA press release scandal.  You can read about it on Librarian in Black here: http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/alastatements/. The person who posted asked the group what they thought about renewing their memberships.  Below is my response.

I'm not a member of the ALA, but I work with them on issues concerning Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.  I'm on the ALA EDI implementation Work Group and I try to represent marginalized people who can't afford membership or conference participation (among other things).  

I would say that ALA has been made progress due in large part to work by people like Melissa Cardenas-Dow, Trevor Dawes, Martin Garner and many others who are strongly committed to EDI in ALA and in libraries in general. 

I would also say that the constituency should scrutinize candidate's actual work on EDI.

In my blog post on the 2015 ALA election I explicitly state that there was only one real candidate who seemed to address EDI.   

https://lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/03/ala-election-candidate-analysis-from.html

That candidate was JP Porcaro...

It seems that, up until recently, the ALA has not really taken this issue seriously. They have focused on programs that teach marginalized people how to operate in oppressive systems without creating any real change. Instead, there should be a focus on changing the structural barriers and structural racism that exist within the organization. This kind of structural racism has caused the ALA to make little to no progress in the area of ethnic representation in the library field.  Look here for some information on this:  https://lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/09/little-to-no-progress-in-ethnic.html .

ALA is too expensive, is too financially restrictive and is too exclusive for many librarians to participate in a genuine and engaged manner. ALA is making slow progress in this area, but it is making progress. I would say that ALA is listening and things are changing slowly.  

Some things that would help ALA create change:

• Strong leadership who emphasize the importance of, and the dedication to ED,I as an organization
• Putting more money toward EDI and making it a real priority in the organization
• A more diverse (in all areas) membership to increase new ideas and development of the organization
• Structural change that makes the organization more accessible to people who can't go to conferences and who can't pay full membership dues 
• More discussion before making press statements that seem to support fascism
• A more meaningful relationship with membership. 
• It should be something more than just getting a copy of American Libraries in the mail every so often
• Less of a European hierarchical infrastructure and more of a participatory flat infrastructure 

ALA  and libraries in general seem to be a very classist organizations with the majority of librarians who are 2nd generation of deeper middle class. This impacts work in areas such as community engagement, programming and staff relations. This also impacts areas like LIS research--where there is nary a study on White-supremacy and Information in the US; where the area of Culture and Information Literacy has been hardly touched.  

I am hopeful ALA is changing in the areas mentioned above. 

I'm tired, but there is still a long way to go!

Respectfully, 

Max Macias 

Book Review: An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873 (The Lamar Series in Western History)

Buy this book for your Library

An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873 (The Lamar Series in Western History)by Benjamin Madley is a book that should be in every library in the US.  This book covers an essential history that has heretofore been neglected save for a few works such as Murder State.

• Series: The Lamar Series in Western History
• Hardcover: 712 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 24, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300181361
• ISBN-13: 978-0300181364
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.8 x 9.2 inches

The book covers the history of the genocide of Indigenous peoples in the state of California from 1846-1873.  During this time, the book traces the beginnings of the genocide from scattered massacres to full scale state and federally sponsored militia and military massacre campaigns.  The sheer brutality and callousness against the indigenous people of California is stunning and hard to read.

CA Indian Population 1845-1880 Genocide in Numbers

This book shows how the pattern of forcing Indians from their home hunting grounds and by the removal of game due to large numbers of immigrants--beginning during the Gold Rush.  The indians then could not feed themselves, so they stole cattle from White ranchers.  The White ranchers would then raise a posse, or a militia force to go "teach the indians a lesson."  The lesson would entail murdering every man, woman and child of the first indigenous village happened upon.  No matter if they were 'guilty' or not.

Vigilantes were supported by the local government and the state. 

 The combination of vigilante massacres with state sponsored militia killing campaigns and the military murder expeditions was lethal and decimated the Californian Indian population.  The Indians had nowhere to hide except high in the mountains, where there was little food.  This forced them to steal from White people, which led to more murder expeditions against them.  It was a cycle that was lethal and effective in 'eradicating' the indigenous people of California.

If you were lucky enough to survive a massacre, you would not have any food, clothing or shelter to help you live.  Many survivors died from exposure or starvation.  As I was reading this, I thought of Ishi--his story is heartbreaking.  You can read about it here: http://history.library.ucsf.edu/ishi.html.

The brutality of the immigrants is mind-boggling. 

The killing was relentless.  The Indians sometimes fought back and killed whites, which raised even more ire and retribution.  The murder unmerciful and was encouraged by California Newspapers.  These papers called for total annihilation of all Californian Indians.  

Slow death at the  reservation.

You may be thinking, "Why didn't the Indians just go to a reservation.  When Indians fled to reservations starved the Indians.  They didn't provide the promised supplies.  Many starved to death. 

This brought about the horrible choice of leaving the reservation and facing:

Enforced slavery.  There were vagrancy laws that stated an Indian had to prove they were not in debt to someone.  This entailed the possession of a certificate that stated they were not in debt.  If the Indian could not prove this, then they were arrested and put up for auction.  They were sold to someone for a period of time, usually years.  During this time they were charged for food and clothes and were never paid enough money to pay off this debt.  Therefore, they could never get their certificate of no debt.  They would be stuck in perpetual slavery.



Or

Being tracked down and murdered by a posse of citizens or a state sponsored militia.  After a theft, they would hunt down and kill any Indian they encountered.  They used this as a chance for "pedagogical violence."  Violence that would teach anyone who heard about it that they should not steal from White people or they would face utter annihilation or slavery.  They often collected scalps and brought them back as souvenirs.  Some local country stores had Indian scalps nailed to their walls well into the 20th century.


The state paid well for militiamen to track down and murder Indians in CA.  They they sought reimbursement from the the federal government.  The federal government paid for the genocide of California Indians and it paid well.  This pay, in itself, was a reason to form a militia and make some money.

State sponsored Genocide in CA.

Sometimes the children and women were kept alive, but sold into the california slave system.  Women were sold into sexual slavery and other forms of bondage.  Children were often sold to estates where they remained the rest of their lives as chattel.



Some Indians turned to gold mining when their territories were impinged upon. Once there was an influx of White immigrants into CA though, there wasn't enough for everyone and the White miners simply murdered the Indian miners and claim jumped their claims.

There is a timeline at the end of the book that tracks the murder of indigenous people in CA according to state historical record that includes body counts.  This is the most well-researched and comprehensive information on this subject to date.

US genocide has yet to be covered in any manner similar to the Holocaust in Europe.  The time is coming though.  The cat is out of the bag.

Other important books on this subject:

Churchill, W., & Mazal Holocaust Collection. (1997). A little matter of genocide: Holocaust and denial in the Americas, 1492 to the present. San Francisco: City Lights Books.

Lindsay, B. C. (2015). Murder state: California's native american genocide 1846-1873. Place of publication not identified: Univ Of Nebraska Press.

Stannard, D. E. (1992). American holocaust: Columbus and the conquest of the New World. New York: Oxford University Press.

Your Death Will Be Our Reality Television For The Day or 21st Century Lynchings

Black dead bodies pile up on the television screens across the nation.

While there is a 'debate' about force by some fancy people in some fancy room.

Children live in terror everywhere.

Educated grown men and women tremble at the sight of a police officer.

These are lynchings that puts the Klan to shame.

This is Freedom in the US at the beginning of the 21st century.

ALA task force seeks your input on economic implications of participating at ALA functions

Subject: ALA Task Force Seeks Your Input on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Greetings! 

The ALA Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion was created in the spring of 2014 by then ALA President, Barbara Stripling.  The Task Force is currently in the information-gathering phase.  To aid with information gathering, it has launched a series of short surveys to be conducted at times to coincide with the ALA Midwinter Meetings and Annual Conferences through 2016.  These surveys are designed to help understand the culture of the association, the profession, and our communities with respect to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

We recognize that incidents of racial bias and injustice continue to occur across the country on a regular basis.  This third survey, however, focuses on the economic implications of participating in ALA functions.

The survey can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TEDI3. Responses will be collected through March 18, 2015. ALA members and non-members are encouraged to participate.

Please take a few minutes to answer the survey, which should take no more than 7 minutes to complete. “Embracing and celebrating diversity, and creating a more inclusive profession have been long-standing goals of the American Library Association.  With your help, we hope to ensure these values are upheld,” said Task Force co-chairs Trevor A. Dawes and Martin L. Garnar.

The ALA Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion’s charge is to develop a plan and strategic actions to build more equity, diversity, and inclusion among our members, the field of librarianship, and our communities.  The most important Task Force outcome is the public and honest conversation generated by its plan and recommended actions.  The final Task Force report will include recommendations for ensuring that a continuing focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion is embedded throughout the ALA organization.

Questions about the survey can be sent to the Task Force at diversity@ala.org.

Should technical issues arise, please contact the ALA Office for Research and Statistics at ors@ala.org or call 1 (800) 545-2433. ext. 4273.

Max Macias ALA TFEDI member

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

The number one issue I encounter when dealing with racism on an organizational/institutional level is the lack of ability to put the organization's resources toward ending racism and the lack of diversity in the institution.

Many US Organizations state they value "diversity."  What does that mean?

Diversity, inclusion and equity aren't seen as an issue of sustainability for our organizations and institutions.   These issues are looked at like pinstriping on a sports car.  It seems they are not as important to our organizations as the engine, or even the tires of the car...

Our nation will not survive if we do not deal with the issues of race that exist in our culture.

Unconscious bias is built into most education, entertainment and other forms of information.

We need teams of analysts to investigate these biases, analyze them, describe them for laypeople, and prescribe fixes for them.  We need these teams within our organizations and in general society.

In the organization, these teams need autonomy in order to properly do the job of analyzing as objectively as possible.   They also need power in order to properly execute the changes they find are needed within an organization.

Organizations need to create such teams and give them the full support of the instead of just giving this subject lip service and keeping actions at the "cultural petting zoo" level.

Educating a diverse workforce and attaining the mission of almost any organization will entail that the organization work to meet the needs of a diverse membership and makeup.

Is it about money, or is it about fixing a broken system?

Indeed, if diversity, equity and inclusion were desirable goals for institutions from the US government down to our local community colleges and school districts, then these organizations would allocate and use their resources at the same level as other "crucial" goals and 'outcomes' of these institutions.

The thing is--these organizations almost NEVER allocate proper resources,  nor processes to achieve these goals.

These resources range in type from the will to create change (and deal with the consequences of those who are upset by said change), to spending money to train, and educate the members of the organization.

In the US our culture shows that it values something by how much money, or how much 'integrity' an issue, or thing has to us.

People are willing to stand up for their guns, but when it comes to POC--they don't seem to care.

This integrity, in the sense I am speaking about, is the will to deal with those of the dominant culture who might become upset by the appointment, or the recruitment of ethnic minority faculty, staff and membership.

I see people stand up firmly for their gun rights, for the right to fly their confederate flags, for the right to shoot someone if they feel their lives are in danger--yet when it comes to standing up for the lives of their fellow countrymen--all of the sudden--they are worried about offending people.

Denial is the current mental health state in the US.

"Why should I suffer!  I never discriminated against anyone, I never owned slaves!"

"Some people might get mad if we were to appoint POC faculty, or staff members!"  

I hear again and again.  

However,  they don't understand that POC are already upset.  That we deal with microaggressions on a daily basis, that we deal with fear and the knowledge that discrimination exists in our culture.

"Will it be us this time? " 

"Was that discrimination?"

"Did they really just say that?"

"Maybe they didn't mean it."

The hell POC live when it comes to race  in this culture.  The hell of sending your child out to school and not knowing if they will be judged according to what they do and who they are instead of the color of their skin, or by their accent is never acknowledged, nor is it even a reality to those with privilege.

Those in power don't care about the hell POC exist within when it comes to race and employment in the US.

They are more concerned with upsetting someone from the dominant culture.

They don't care one iota if we are upset...

That should send us ALL a really clear and strong message when it comes to rectifying the racial situation in the US today.

meth·od

ˈmeTHəd/

noun

plural noun: methods

1. a particular form of procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, especially a systematic or established one.

   "a method for software maintenance"

   synonyms:

   procedure, technique, system, practice, routine, modus operandi, process;

We need new methods and we need not be afraid of approaching our organizations with this knowledge in mind.

We need to stress that our organizations put their resources, both financial and spiritual toward ending racism in our organizations, toward achieving those lofty mission outcomes and toward achieving equity.

Our organizations and institutions will benefit from this and we will achieve a return on investment that will be staggering--if only we have the courage to make our organizations put their money where their mouths are.

We must create some change with direct action and stop repeating the same things we have been doing for the past 30 years.

I know and understand that diversity is more than race, but I submit that within race exists a rich diversity.   That is to say, if one recruits a rich and large pool of faculty of color, then one will have a richly diverse pool in more than just race, but also of class, gender, abilities, and other measures of diversity that organizations use.  We need to work on race at the moment.

It isn't just getting people the MLS, or MLIS

It isn't just getting people the MLS, or MLIS.  I've had mine since 2009 and it hasn't done me much good.  Libraries, the ALA and Education is not really interested in equity, inclusion or diversity,  If they were, then they would put their money where there mouths are and make it a priority.  I have been working in libraries since 1987 and personally have not seen a change in representation.  I also have numbers that prove the field has become less diverse.  

I think working together is the way to go, but I also think acknowledging "whiteness" and the privileges that go with it is an important step toward working together.  I'm not even White and I benefit from these privileges because of my lighter skin. I know I have more opportunities (generally) than my darker brothers and sisters. And god forbid they have an accent.  It isn't that hard to acknowledge the privilege--yet people constantly fight this acknowledgement.  

We all benefit from the slavery, land-theft and genocide that occured and continues to occur in the Americas.  Even the poorest people in our culture have a higher standard of living because of the slavery, land-theft and genocide that has happened and is still ongoing.  It isn't hard to see this and acknowledgement is the answer.  Nobody wants anybody to feel bad, but we want acknowledgement.  I liken it to an alcoholic who is in deep denial.  Things won't ever get better until one can acknowledge one has a problem.

Free Speech Should be for Librarians Too

Librarians and Self-censorship

Free speech for librarians comes with unspoken conditions

I encounter many (often young) librarians in real life and online.  One of the most frequent things people tell me is, "How come you are so free with your speech?  I could never talk about those things--I would get fired." or more often, "...I would never land a job!"  

It is striking that librarians consider themselves defenders of free speech and intellectual freedom, but that the above sentiment is held by so many librarians.  

Why are librarians scared to speak about important issues?

I understand about library constituencies, but I'm not talking about library directors here--I'm speaking about regular librarians, or librarians searching for a job.

Last month, I had a session at the Oregon Library Association Conference.  My session was on cannabis resources for librarians.  The session consisted of a panel.  I had invited another knowledgeable librarian to be on the panel.  However, the librarian's director told them that they could not be part of the session.  I found this interesting--especially since the state of Oregon has legalized cannabis for recreational and medical consumption.

Censored and Self-censored 

Anyway, the fact the librarians are scared to speak about certain issues, or to let their staff speak about certain issues because if might offend their constituencies is incredibly offensive to the notion of free speech AND intellectual freedom.  It would be wiser to create a campaign on intellectual freedom and free speech than to censor librarians, or to self-censor--which is the most usual case.  

Librarians should never be scared to talk about issues.  We should never be wary of pointing users to legitimate information sources, not matter what the subject and we should never self-censor.

It is chilling to me to hear so many people who are fearful of speaking out, speaking up or bringing up topics that might make others feel uncomfortable.  One of the main issues with our country is that it avoids issues that are uncomfortable.  This leads to anger, violence and other social issues.  

As librarians, we should feel free to speak our minds, be ready to defend our free speech rights and use, be ready to defend free speech for others and access to information that some may feel should be restricted.  

I have suffered the ramifications of free speech.  In fact, one of the heads of an academic diversity in libraries program recently told me to,  "Never contact me again.  Your rhetoric is weak, and your arguments are unconvincing."

If he doesn't like my arguments, then attack the arguments--don't cut me off from you and your program.  

When things like this happen, and even worse--when they happen in public, these ramifications serve as a model of punishment.  This model informs others of what can happen to them if they speak out, or don't reinforce the status quo.

If we self-censor, how can we ever hope to achieve promote free access to materials, and the free speech of ourselves and others?

#DiversitiesAndRepresentation

[We welcome this week's guest post from Da` Lyberri-Ann]

By: Da’ Lyberri-ann

So another Midwinter has passed and like red carpet season, our new literary award winners have been announced with great fanfare. Facebook was filled with selfies and group pictures of committee members proud of a year’s hard work and accomplishments. As a librarian I should feel giddy and excited. New books are winning awards for outstanding literature in many different categories. As a children’s librarian I should be pulling out rolls of golden stickers to note these books of honor and proudly promoting them to my community. But I am not excited or proud. I’m upset. Disappointed. Dare I say “pissed off?”. Why? it is because again I see that although #blacklivesmatter for sound bites in the news, it doesn’t result in actual change.  

At the risk of pointing out the pink elephant in the room I’ll tell you why: The Caldecott committee didn’t have any people of disadvantaged minority status. Or to be blunt: No Blacks, No Hispanics, No Native Americans served on the Caldecott this year. Again.

[There were two people of color on this year's Caldecott Committee: The chair, Junko Yakota and Lucia Acosta]. 

And to be honest I am sick of it! 20 people on the committee: 16 women, 4 men, one of Asian ancestry, and .. thats it. 19 white folks and one token Asian! WTF!!!! A committee that is supposed to find the best picture books in the nation didn’t have a single Hispanic! For crying out F****in’ loud, how hard is it to find a Hispanic children’s librarian in a country with over 30% of its population Hispanic?

Honestly how hard is it to find a Black children’s librarian to serve on  this committee? Now I know the excuses and they are bulls****. Minority ALA members pay dues, they are  active in the organization but are repeatedly blackballed, and denied access to the very committees that will result in a change in ALA structure.  When was the last time a book about a Black or Hispanic child won the Caldecott? ….. I’ll wait. ( you had to google it, admit it) And that proves my point.

It is not enough that the CSK (Coretta Scot King) award exists. If #blacklivesreallymatter and #brownlivesmatter we need to acknowledge in mainstream awards that the stories of their lives are significant. It’s like a Black musician being happy their album won the BET awards. It’s all well and good be acknowledged by your own, but true change happens when your music crosses into the mainstream and wins a Grammy.  I know what some of you are thinking: Viva Frida was honored! And a that book about the slave poet in 2011… it was honored too. It is significant that the books are acknowledged right?

2009 Newberry Honor Book

Not anymore.  I am sick of books about minorities earning second place. I am sick of the message that they are good enough for CSK but not for Caldecott. I am sick of the message that the stories are not worthy of a mainstream audience.  And until I see consistent Black and Brown faces on the committees I will not see this change. So I won’t be  supporting this racist situation by marketing the Caldecott winners to my Black and Brown library users. #Blackbooksmatter.

 

Pura Belpré

2015 Author Award Winner

I Lived on Butterfly Hill, written by Marjorie Agosín, illustrated by Lee White and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

Pura Belpré

2015 Illustrator Award Winner

Viva Frida, illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales and published by Roaring Brook Press, a Neal Porter Book

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards

2015 Author Award Winner

“brown girl dreaming” published by Nancy Paulson Books, published by the Penguin Group, Penguin Group (USA) LLC

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards

2015 Illustrator Award Winner

“Firebird” written by Copeland and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, published by the Penguin Group, Penguin Group USA