Lowrider Librarian

 How do these themes impact LIS? How can librarians and other information professionals work to mitigate themes four and five? How can librarians and others work to increase algorithmic literacy? Link to Pew's article Code Dependent:Pros and Cons of Algorithm Age: http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/02/08/code-dependent-pros-and-cons-of-the-algorithm-age/

Whiteness in US Libraries [Note--this is a blog post.  These ideas can and will be further developed.  These ideas are sketches of what I am thinking at the moment.  Feedback is encouraged and welcome.] US schools and libraries serve as points of diffusion for Whiteness.   Whiteness, as used in this post is defined as the concept that European people and European culture are more important than other people and other cultures.   Whiteness is purveyed uncritically in libraries.  This shucking of Whiteness is done under the guise of objectivity, of adhering the the 'marketplace' of ideas.  But this so-called neutrality is really an adherence and capitulation to the Whiteness paradigm.   Children of color hear the message of Whiteness--"European people and European culture are more important than other people and other cultures.   Children of color live in a world of discrimination and bias in US schools.   Some t...

This is your chance to be part of a unique publishing endeavor. Yago S. Cura and Max Macias are co-editing a book of essays written by specifically invited librarians who we feel have some of the best minds in the world. We need help with funds for publishing. Please consider giving what you can to help us create this one of a kind work. We plan on continuing with a series of unique, forward-thinking and courageous librarian works from outstanding minds in the Information world. My name is Max Macias and my Co-editor is Yago Cura. We are seeking help publishing an invitational anthology of radical essays written by exceptional librarians, many of whom are also librarians of color. All funds will be used for publishing and promotional costs. We are projecting to publish this anthology of essays by May, 2017. Few books have been written about how information and culture impact the creation of knowledge. Even fewer books critique how oppression is bolstered and enhanced by cultura...

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.

Libraries and the Fight Against Terrorism Libraries can and should be an important weapon against terrorism.  "Librarians are soldiers in the war against ignorance!"  Racism is fundamentally ignorance which leads to hate.  This is a call out to all librarians to help end the ongoing terrorism against people of color in the US. People of color in the US live under a state of domestic terrorism.  This terrorism is conducted via many official channels.  The education system, law enforcement, healthcare, judicial system and other aspects of the state have been and are used against people of color in the US. The terrorism we experience on a daily basis meets ALL the criteria below:  "Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics: Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by ...

I read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates in one sitting.  It was a decent book. Get this book for your library! So many people have already praised it for its great writing and incredible erudition.  I felt really let down after reading his book because I was expecting so much more. Mr. Coates is a good writer, but he is not a great writer.  His prose flows and I believe he has found his own voice.  However, the writing is not beautiful, nor is it creative or innovative in any manner. In my opinion the most important aspects of this book are his insights on the black body.   African Americans, after all, were considered products to be exploited for their value as slaves.  Their (and latino) bodies are still used in such a way in the prison industry as explicated so brilliantly in Michelle Alexander's seminal work, The New Jim Crow. He COMPLETELY neglects the fact that other ethnicities (besides black people) have race issues in the U...

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. ...

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 de...

On a web site I frequent someone recently posted a photo from an article on the san Francisco police giving some books to children.  Here is the link to the article: Article I commented on the site that “I hope they gave the kids some books on how to survive a confrontation with the pigs.”  I said this in all seriousness because the police routinely kill people of color in the US.  In fact, citizen survival tactics during interactions with police should be programming in libraries. Using the term pig is English in origin and has also been used to describe police since 1851. Apart from the police brutality based on race there was also some POC on POC bullying going on in this exchange on the board. Immediately, the person who posted the article (a professional in the same profession as me) told me that I should act professional--”Aren’t you a professional Max--we should behave as professionals!” I’m used to getting the “professional” ad hominem fro...

When you are a person of color and you speak about race, you are playing a game of Whack a Mole and you are the mole. Ready for the next one! Something I have seen recently jarred me into consciousness about how peer pressure bullying works in combination with Race in the US. Often, when a person of color brings up Race, they are most often told to shut up in one way or another.  If they don't or happen to bring up Race again, then they are most often attacked. Once the initial attack happens, other bullies join in and reinforce the idea that non-White viewpoints on Race don't count and don't matter. This has happened to me countless times and most often it happens with the bullies hiding behind the guise of paternal/maternal patronizing comments about the person of color being a racist. This type of bullying has happened to me in forums, on Facebook, in person and in various other scenarios when speaking about Race. Recently I was a witness to this on th...

Racial Microaggressions in Academic Libraries: Results of a Survey of Minority and Non-minority Librarians The Journal of Academic Librarianship Volume 41, Issue 1 , January 2015, Pages 47–53 Jaena Alabi , doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2014.10.008 Abstract There is relatively little literature on racism within the profession of academic librarianship. To investigate academic librarians' experiences of racism, this research project uses the framework of racial microaggressions, which are subtle, denigrating messages directed toward people of color. According to the results of an online survey, some librarians of color have had racial microaggressions directed at them by their colleagues. Non-minority librarians, however, are unlikely to recognize these disparaging exchanges. Keywords Academic libraries ; Racism ; Diversity ; Racial microaggressions Read it here:   http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133314...

The glass comes between our love. My hand reaches for the father that is gone. "No touching allowed!"  Orange jumpsuits?--they have been putting us in those things long before Guantanamo. A long row of desperate communication to my left and to my right. I pick up the industrial black transceiver so we can talk. ‪#‎ Jail‬ ‪#‎ NewJimCrow‬

Librarians are NOT representative of the current US Demographics According to my calculations, the ALA had 88.5% White Librarians in 1985, and 87.97% in 2009-2010. According to my calculations, the ALA had 1.8% Asian/Pacific Islander Librarians in 1985, and 2.7% in 2009-2010. According to my calculations, the ALA had 1.8% Latino Librarians in 1985, and 3.08% in 2009-2010. According to my calculations, the ALA had 6.1% African American Librarians in 1985, and 5.19% in 2009-2010. In the US, the above image is linked to the image below. Figures derived from Equity at Issue document from ALA 1985 and ALA office of diversity 2009-2010.