Lowrider Librarian

The ALA recently solicited comments on a revision to the ALA Code of Ethics's 9th principle.  I added some comments to this document. The comments were full of vile racist comments and they rejected my input. This kind of treatment happens to BIPOC all the time when asked to participate in library work in general.   The white gatekeepers make sure we can't create change. Here is another example of how my suggestions were rejected. Here I added, "anti-oppression actions..."  If the ALA really wants input from BIPOC librarians--they should be much more respectful and not allow racist trolling on their documents.

This is in response to David Lee King's blog post on: http://www.davidleeking.com/ugly-beliefs-free-speech-and-libraries/   What kind of drivel is this? And look at the photo--a photo of a white dude with duct tape on his mouth!!!! Poor White Dude who can't spout his hate! Fuck David Lee King! " We stand for the principle that government and public information shouldn’t depend on the whims of the moment.” Quote from Joseph Jane's article that D quoted. It isn't a fucking 'whim' you asshole--maybe to SOME White people Genocide is a whim, the desire for genocide is a whim, or maybe it is that the potential victims are stating a whim that they don't like to be threatened. It isn't neutral if you are backing the ONE side--the white side. Fuck your founding fathers and their rapist bullshit. Fuck Nazi 'free speech.' It sure would be nice if people like mr. King would fight for POC's rights just as much as he is fighting fo...

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.

As a library worker who is a person of color, I have experienced discrimination in libraries.  From receiving such edifying duties as "sorting the mail," to being judged harshly in comparison to my colleagues who are not people of color, to being bullied so hard and often that I became shaky about myself and my own skills.  I escaped that situation, and landed a job in IT.  It is illustrative of how much I was being bullied and discriminated against at my library job, by the fact that once I was in the IT department, I was valued, told I was doing a great job, told that the feedback on my work was ALWAYS great and other accolades.  I couldn't believe it at first, because I had been so bullied and told that I " was incompentent," and other such disheartening, and in the end, downright mean, insults and other abuses based on my "weak performance."  I have not had a bad review since leaving the library job I once had.  I have continued to teach for that l...

From Jerome Offord, Jr. Colleagues: Thank you for the notes of support and the quiet concerns. However, I want to make sure you understand the purpose of the press release and BCALA's intent. Please allow me to provide you a timeline of events. ·         In the fall of 2013, BCALA leadership received a note regarding the Orlando Conference and the Stand Your Ground issues in the State of Florida. ·         The aforementioned question sparked dialogue on the Executive Board electronic list. ·         Several board members requested that this issue be on the January 2014 Executive Board Midwinter Meeting agenda. ·         During the Midwinter Meeting, the Executive Board discussed this issue at length and the Board voted that BCALA should go on record expressing our concern about the implementation and interpr...

Black Caucus of ALA Denounces ALA’s Decision to Hold 2016 Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.  For immediate release: March 10, 2014 Media Contact: Jason Alston, jasonalston@gmail.com The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), condemns the American Library Association’s (ALA) decision to continue with plans to hold the ALA 2016 annual conference in Orlando, Fla. in the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict and that state’s refusal to revise or repeal “Stand Your Ground” laws, which were included in jury instructions in Zimmerman’s trial for second degree murder for fatally shooting unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. in 2012. BCALA believes that “Stand Your Ground” laws enable a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality against African-American men perceived without merit to be threats or assumed without evidence to be engaged in criminal behavior. Kenneth Nunn, a professor at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, wrote in the ...