Lowrider Librarian

“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...

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...

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 commu...

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...

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 wor...

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 Califor...

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.

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...

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. ...

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...

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 kn...

[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. ...