I'm the Other Kind

 

"I'm back out on that road again 
Turn this beast into the wind 
There are those that break and bend 
I'm the other kind, I'm the other kind"
Steve Earle 

San Jose State School of Information: Moving Beyond Diversity to Anti-Oppression

Coming in November!

What does Antiracism Mean?

Image source: Millenial Grind

[Please note--this is not an extensive, comprehensive definition--it is my working definition.]

I'm sure you have probably heard the term antiracist recently.  It is a current trend for organizations and businesses to use the term antiracist in their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion documentation and activities.  

But what does the term Antiracist really mean?

Not being racist is NOT antiracism.  In fact, nobody in the americas can escape being racist in some way.  

Being antiracist is actively working toward creating a society that does not view individuals as representations of their entire people.  

Being antiracist is being actively engaged in bringing about this change in your organization. We must root out the idea that certain groups of people are superior, by their nature, and force structural change in our workplaces, organizations and society.

A way of thinking.

Here is what Ibram X. Kendi says about it in his book How to be Antiracist:

"To be antiracist is to think nothing is behaviorally wrong or right -- inferior or superior -- with any of the racial groups. Whenever the antiracist sees individuals behaving positively or negatively, the antiracist sees exactly that: individuals behaving positively or negatively, not representatives of whole races. To be antiracist is to deracialize behavior, to remove the tattooed stereotype from every racialized body. Behavior is something humans do, not races do."  

Acknowledge and understand that we exist in a society that has been shaped by racist ideas, policies, practices, laws and organizations.  Anyone who has been raised in the Americas has been raised in a world that is based on skin color, and revolves around the concept of whiteness.  Whiteness here being, the idea that people from Europe are the most important, most intelligent and highest form of beings on the planet.  Therefore, being as white as possible leads to the aforementioned characteristics and importance.  The farther away one is from whiteness lends itself to negative characteristics being slavish, inhuman and stupid and being less important among many others.  

To acknowledge this, is to become conscious that one must have biases and unconscious beliefs as a result of being raised in the Americas.  This must lead to critical self-reflection. 

Personal reflection

Being aware that one must have racial biases and in effect, be racist to a certain extent, if one were raised in the Americas is the first step to becoming antiracist.  One must critically reflect on one's ideas, behavior, body sensations and relationships with BIPOC if one wants to advance towards antiracism.  Only when someone becomes conscious of their behavior and ways of thinking, can they then work on fixing that behavior and thought.  

Being antiracist also means actively listening to criticism when others call out your racism.  This is such an important aspect of being an antiracist!  

I would say you can't be an antiracist if you don't do this.  

I've had friends call me out and my first bodily feeling was anger, denial and mistrust.  But after backing away for a bit to reflect and really listen to the critical words and ideas about my racist behavior and way of thinking, I was able to hear their message of love to me.  And it really is a message of love if someone feels the need to call you out on something.  If they didn't care about you, then they wouldn't say something.  I've been able to see problem areas related to racism in my life because of my loving friends who have helped me see where and what I need to work upon.

Denial is the friend of racism

Being raised in the racist milieu that are the Americas, it would be irrational to deny having racist ideas in our heads.  This culture is based on a strict set of racial categories with characteristics applied to each category.  This culture is racist in its structures and thought.  

So, like the alcoholic, the first thing we must do is come to terms with the fact that we are all racist to a certain extent and the only antidote to racism is acceptance and then an antiracist stance.  It is a disjunction, you are either a racist or antiracist--there is no in between.  Getting past denial is the first and one of the most important steps to becoming antiracist.  Accept the fact that we don't have control over the systems we were born into, but that we can change these systems for future generations by becoming antiracists.

A way of being

 Being anti-racist requires that the we act when we see policies, behavior or ideas that racialize behavior.  This means that we also analyze the structures that we operate within.  The organizations we work, live and die within have been created in a world that is explicitly racist.  We have come a long way, but it is time to dismantle racism, the policies that uphold racism, the ideas, the actions and the beliefs that are the infrastructure of racism is what we are going for here.  

We can all do our part, whether it is calling out racist behavior in the supermarket, or analyzing deep organizational policy for racialized ideas, concepts, practices and procedures EVERYONE can do something towards making our society an antiracist society instead of a racist society.  

Being antiracist requires us to:

• Accept that we live in a racialized society and have been impacted by this
• Be actively engaged in dismantling this racialized way of thinking
• Be actively self-critical in terms of racist thinking and behavior
• Be dynamic and ever-evolving in our antiracist thinking
• Use what we learn from our antiracism to dismantle other forms of oppression

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?

Citizen by Claudia Rankine (Book Review)

This book is amazing on so many levels.

Poetically, it stands almost alone as an example of relationships, alienation, microaggressions, and racism in the 21st century US.

Quote from Citizen

A friend recommended this book to me over the break--as we were all freshly cut wide open from the Ferguson coverage, revealing local discussions and ongoing murder of POC from any age and area in the US.

I finally got a hold of it via the library and read it in earnest.

The descriptions of racial microaggressions in 2nd person narrative poetry are so powerful I was shaking as I read them.

Quote from Citizen

Each page is condensed emotion, reaction and analysis of a lifetime of experiencing relationships that bite while smiling.  Her poetry describes how inescapable it is to be a POC in the US at this time and place.  The relentless assault upon our senses of 21st century lynchings and their impact the mental health, awareness and identity of POC is explicated in detail.  This explication is via emotions, images and the powerful poetic voice of Ms. Rankine.

I don't read many books of poetry, nor do I often recommend them.  However, this work should be standard reading for any HS senior, or 1st year college students.  Anyone interested in Race in the US should read this book.  It gets at the heart of what it feels like to live in the US at this time as a POC.

Read this book.

Order this book for your library.

Tell others about this book.

Lowrider Literacies and Fluencies* 10 Point Program 2015

Lowrider Literacies and Fluencies* 10 Point Program 2015

1. Technology: We demand free access to technology and technology instruction, training and applications that meets our community needs.


2. Mechanics: We demand free access to mechanical technology and instruction. By this we mean we want motor vehicle, heavy equipment and other mechanical training and access that meet our community needs.


3. Reading: We demand free access to books that meet our needs. By needs, we mean: Cultural, Political, HIstorical, Language, Social, Psychological, and Health needs. We also demand books in a variety of formats.


4. Writing: We demand free access to writing and publishing technologies as well as the instruction to become fluent with them, and the ability to apply them to our needs.

5. Critical Political Analysis: We demand free access to critical political science analysis instruction, training and applications of this critical thinking to our needs.


6. Social Community Literacy: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of social and community service and self-development based on our needs.


7. Human Development Health: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of sound human development principled based on our needs and applied to our communities. 

8. Logic: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of logical analysis and fluency for community members in both informal and formal logic.


9. Self-Defense: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of self-defense principles, techniques, weapon training, tactical training and the history of self-defense based on our needs.

10. Ends: Educational sell-determination that leads to political self-determination is the goal of all the preceding literacy points.




*Any marginalized individual or group that seeks to mitigate oppressive forces on their community can apply Lowrider Literacy and Fluencies. One need not own a lowrider, nor be Latino.

Everyone is a Curator

I haven't been excited about anything on the Web in a long time. That has changed recently. My wife and a few other friends recently turned me onto Pinterest. Pinterest is like Flickr on steroids. It is a service/site where you can easily share images with people. Each image you pin or repin appears on your Pinterest wall, which is similar to a Facebook wall. The feed is live and comes in similar to how Twitter updates itself as you watch.


My Pinterest Wall






Users can follow other users’ feeds, and other users can follow your feeds. Images may be added from a website using the Pin It button, or you can upload images from your computer. The Pin It button can be placed onto your browser bar, thus allowing one to pin images by simply clicking on the button when viewing an image you like on any given website.




After a user clicks the Pin It button they are then presented with a window displaying the lined up images from the page they were on. Clicking the Pin It button on the images you want to “pin” to your Pinterest wall presents you with a screen where you may enter comments; add username info, tags, prices or other information to the pinned image.





Once the images are pinned, the user and his/her friends can see each other’s walls and pins. There is a repin button on each image that has been pinned; clicking on this button will repin the image to your wall. There is also a comment button allowing one to post comments on the image. Finally, there is a like button that enables you to like the pins and repins of the people you follow or other images on Pinterest.



In the comment area of the pin you can also:


“ Type @ to mention people, # to add tags, $ or £ to add prices.” Use hashtags #labels to organize your tags. Keep in mind that users can search using hashtags.

"To mention a pin to a Pinterest user, you first need to be following at least one board belonging to him/her. Then, type the @ symbol immediately followed by his/her username. Potential matches to this username will begin to load; when you see the person you want, click their name."


This is called a "mention". There is a link to your mentions page on your user profile page. This link will say @yourusername, allowing you to access your username "mentions".





My profile page also has my boards listed.


Pinterest users can organize their pins by creating “boards.” For instance, I have a “skate” board (no pun intended), where I pin skateboarding images. Users can follow individual boards or they can follow all of the boards a particular user “curates.” On Pinterest everyone is a curator.




You can shop for gifts on the gift page: http://pinterest.com/gifts/


Items are grouped according to price as circled below. I am not sure how to search using operators in Pinterest and am hoping a more robust search is developed in the near future.

You can also search other aspects on Pinterest. You can conduct hash tag searches. For instance, if I am interested in finding skateboarding photos, I would use #skateboarding as my search term, incidentally giving me a great return.






Tagged $49.99


Pinterest requires that an individual be invited to join their site.

"Pinterest is currently invite-only. You can request an invite from us or you can be invited by someone who is already a part of Pinterest."


Ask your friends who have accounts to invite you. You can also use the “Request an Invite” link on the Pinterest home page. Current users can follow the “invite friends” link to send invitations via email addresses, or by importing Yahoo or Gmail contacts into Pinterest. I have invited my Gmail contacts; it was quick and easy. Quick and easy seems to be one of the features I am always seeking, especially in a web application. It’s also intuitive (I hate to use that term, but it’s fitting).




Discussions

Users can follow discussions on various topics by following the “discussions” link.
This looks to be developing. I have not participated in many good discussions yet, but am open to following and participating in the future.







What I love about Pinterest is that it is so visual, that you can share a huge amount of images easily, and that you can go through others’ images quickly, liking and/or repinning them. I have encountered wonderful images: animal photos, images of food that look so delicious you want to reach into the screen, architectural photos, and more. I love that you can follow others’ collections easily and can encounter almost anything (and I mean that in the good taste sense).




I am quickly becoming addicted to my "Pin It" button and look forward to checking my wall daily. It is really fun. I enjoy meeting new people and seeing their images; I've not really found anything to not like about Pinterest.

Comments are greatly appreciated. I would love to hear about your ideas and experiences in Pinterest!