Monday, January 4, 2021

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 

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

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

 I was honored to be be selected to speak at San Jose State's Information School last month.

San Jo is my hometown and it was super cool to be able to speak at SJSU!

I hope you enjoy this.


Comments encouraged!

Special thanks to Dr. Michele Villagran and San Jose State!


Friday, November 27, 2020

Remembering Consciousness is Power: An Ethnographic Session with Judy Lee and Melissa Cardenas-Dow

 [Please share widely!]

An Ethnographic Session
Please join us!


Greetings Friends!
We hope you and yours are safe and well.
Hinchas Press and Librarians with Spines presents another stimulating session to help you through the pandemic!
Please join us in an engaging conversation about ethnographies, scholarship, identity, books, culture and more! Librarians with Spines editors, Yago Cura and Max Macias, Librarians with Spines Designer/Art Director Autumn Anglin Interview Judy Lee and Melissa Cardenas-Dow about their amazing work. 
Judy and Melissa wrote an amazing chapter in Librarians with Spines Vol. 2 called:LWS2 - Remembering Consciousness is Power: Working to Center Academic Library Outreach in the Service of Social Justice, Asian and Pacific Islander American Ethnic Visibility, and Coalition-Building



December 7th, 2020 10am PST on Zoom!


Please register for free here:




This session will also be recorded and put on our Librarians with Spines Youtube Channel.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Racial Equity in Data Integration

Scientists, Mathematicians, Computer types and other data driven colleagues, please join us for a special antiracist session about how we can center racial equity throughout data integration in our work at PCC. 




Our guest speaker is Angela Bluhm! Event Date and Time: November 10th, 2020: 1pm PST Session description: Since 2019, AISP (Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy) at the University of Pennsylvania has led a diverse workgroup of civic data stakeholders to co-create strategies and identify best practices to center racial equity in data integration efforts. Angela Bluhm is an Analyst for the Educator Advancement Council in the Oregon Department of Education. Angela worked with the AISP while serving as Research, Data, and Communications Coordinator for the Oregon Longitudinal Data Collaborative in the Chief Education Office and later in the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC). Angela will discuss the work of the AISP, the Toolkit for Centering Racial Equity Throughout Data Integration, and ongoing work with Data and Equity. 


Recording link: https://lnkd.in/gQ9YPUm



Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Antiracist Library or Racist Library--There is no Middle Ground


Antiracist libraries acknowledge the fallacy of being neutral in the face of racism.  Libraries are racist or antiracist.  Just like individuals—libraries cannot just say they are ‘not racist.’  Being an antiracist library means that they are actively working to dismantle racism and white supremacy in their libraries and communities.  Being antiracist also means they are working to dismantle the oppression of marginalized people.



Allowing bigots to perpetuate fear in the community is antithetical to the antiracist library.  The antiracist library is an enemy to bigotry.  The antiracist library is constantly reflecting on ‘neutral’ stances when it comes to ALL library policies.  Collection development, meeting room policies, website design, user satisfaction analysis, usage metrics and all other library policies need to be antiracist, or they are racist.  There is no in between.

So, when the library community says, “Libraries are for all!”  We are really saying that they are also open for racists and other bigots.  Bigots are NOT welcome in the antiracist library—ever.  


Allowing racists, homophobes, and other bigots to meet at the library, or to even distribute ‘information’ by leaving material in the library creates a hostile environment for patrons and workers.  




Antiracist libraries say, “Racists and other bigots are not welcome.”  This makes clear that the library is not neutral—it is antiracist and it reinforces that the library sides with library workers and patrons who are marginalized by racism and other forms of bigotry.  


Library patrons and worker rights to safety and not having to be terrorized by bigots are more important than the claims that hate speech and intimidation are forms of free speech.  Antiracist libraries recognize this and are clear about it with their communities.  


Library Patrons
Patrons

Libraries must decide if they are racist or antiracist.  This disjunction is one of the most important questions of our time and impact ALL areas of the library world.  If a library chooses to be antiracist, then it must live up to this ideal make it known that the library is the enemy of bigotry.  It is your choice to make.  Please choose wisely my Oregon library friends.  



Joint Council of Librarians of Color
Joint Council of Librarians of Color