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...

 

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.

[Email from the Oregon Library Association Awards Chair.  Big congratulations and shout out to Marci Ramiro-Jenkins!]   Hello Oregon Library Community! As chair of the Oregon Library Association's  Awards  Committee, I am delighted to widely announce the recipients of the following  awards which were announced at the  OLA  Conference on Friday, April 23.  Presidents’  Award  (conferred by President Kate Lasky and Past-President Elaine Hirsch):  Marci Ramiro-Jenkins    Oregon Library Employee of the year:   Lauren Calbreath Oregon Library Supporter of the year: Barbara Wright EDI Achievement Award (Inaugural award !): Max Macias Oregon Librarian of the year: Librarians and Staff of the State Library of Oregon Children Services Division's Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award : Tehlor Kay Mejia Public Library Division's Pearl Award : Lanel Jackson Congratulations on this well deserved recognition! OLA Awards Committee: El...

 

  [Please share widely!] Hi Everyone,  I hope you and yours are safe and healthy. It is with great excitement and honor that the Oregon Library Association's Committee on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Antiracism present the OLA EDI Antiracism Toolkit! You can download a copy at the Oregon Library Association Web Site , or the State Library of Oregon website . A paper copy of this toolkit will be distributed to every library in Oregon.  They will also receive a digital copy to print and share with staff.  We tried to make this toolkit as practical as possible!  A  antiracism readiness checklist survey is part of the toolkit.  We are asking library staff  in Oregon to fill out the survey/checklist so that we may get some informaiton on Oregon libraries  (see pre-conference information below).   We are asking that the survey be filled out by   Friday, March 19, 11:59pm to give us time to prep for our pre-conference session...

  Racists or other bigots are NOT welcome in a library that values their community.