Lowrider Librarian

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...

In the US, every piece of information and every bit of knowledge we have has been mediated through a White-Supremacist lens--this is especially the case the more educated an individual is in the US. It usually doesn’t matter what the ethnicity of the creator of this knowledge is, nor what their first language is because they have been educated in a system that is fundamentally White-supremacist. It takes much work and effort to even attempt to break out of this colonial mind set. #InformationLiteracy #education #EthnicStudies #Libraries #Information #knowledge #colonialism #21stCenturyEmpire

The fact that people are allowed to say this kind of shit is illustrative of the state of Race relations in the US. It isn't politically correct you fucking barbarians--it is called being civilized and not offending, especially knowingly, those whom you live with. If he were educmacated, he would know that being civilized comes from the Latin word Civi, which means, roughly city. Being civilized is possessing the skills necessary to live with others, especially in a city of society. This guy is a barbarian who ONLY understands force and is ignorant of his own culture. I know his culture better than him and it isn't even my culture.   ‪#‎ racist‬   ‪#‎ bigot‬   ‪#‎ Traitor‬ ‪#‎ WelfareRancher‬

[This is meant to be a series of posts that will illustrate the importance and the process of creating a set of uniform documentation policies and procedures for a large organization that has many physical locations.] Uniform documentation policies and procedures are vital to any organization. The creation of documentation is often formatted differently, created with different tools, are stored in a variety of locations and use inconsistent terms throughout the organization. One obvious improvement to the creation and utilization of documentation includes creating, modeling and using a style guide throughout the organization.   This style guide should be created by the departments and approved by management.  This will increase transparency and "buy in."  Another, less obvious improvement to create a uniform and efficient documentation system throughout your organization is to have a classification style guide as well as a writing style guide. ...

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 ...