[Libs-Or] [REFORMANET] RE: Fwd: Reading While White

Thu Sep 24 11:12:36 PDT 2015

Hi Martin and Max:

Thanks for bringing up these very crucial  issues: 

 – “Racism is embedded, permeated, in a minority of the planet’s population;
racism is the tool of the privileged to perpetuate power. Of course, this is
reflected in our education and what it is published (in the media as a
whole).” 

– “It’s almost impossible to find books written by Latino authors and
illustrators (only 2% of what is printed is relevant to the Latino
culture).”

To that point, I will add that most of what is presented to our community as
Latino culture is just regular consumer products with Spanish names, and in
many cases the so call “Latino heroes” do not even understand Spanish, or
are some famous sports or Hollywood millionaires far removed from our Latino
reality. 

– Specifically on Latino culture publications: In most libraries in the
United States the “Spanish” section –if there is any-- contains non Latino
author books in Spanish. This will increase even more now that Penguin has
bought Alfaguara.

– Librarians always tell you that they can’t buy your book because you are
an “Independent” writer. I thought that was the highest honor that an artist
could aspire to. Not when it comes to having your books at the library. It
seems that libraries in general are tied to a system where they can only buy
products from the “official” and “traditional” industry, which is run of
course by the big media empire. Sadly, our so called “Latino culture”, image
and products are established by this big machine; for them “Latino culture”
is just a commercial opportunity.

– To that respect, it will be interesting to ask our community what makes
them Latinos, and if they ever read a book by a Latino author -- asking them
if they read a book in Spanish will be perhaps expecting too much. 

BUT libraries and librarians are still key players in these difficult
issues; they may not resolve them but they can keep them alive on the
discussion table.   

Thank you REFORMA, I have faith in you.

Mario Bencastro

www.MarioBencastro.org 

  _____  

From: REFORMANet at googlegroups.com [mailto:REFORMANet at googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Marti´n Blasco
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2015 12:04 PM
To: 'Max Macias'; REFORMANet at googlegroups.com
Cc: uwmosaic at u.washington.edu; libs-or; reforma_or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [REFORMANET] RE: [Libs-Or] Fwd: Reading While White

Hi Max:

This is a very important, crucial issue to bring on the table. As librarians
working with the Latino and Spanish speaking community, we always have to be
aware of our “core beliefs” and don’t be afraid of making a point. Racism is
embedded, permeated, in a minority of the planet’s population (yes, white
people, including myself, even when I’m Latino). Racism is the tool of the
privileged to perpetuate power. Of course, this is reflected in our
education and what it is published (in the media as a whole). 

We are trying to select books for the Mock Pura Belpré Award, and it’s like
doing an archeological work. It’s almost impossible to find books written by
Latino authors and illustrators (only 2% of what is printed is relevant to
the Latino culture).

Our presenter for the Mock Pura Belpré Award in Oregon is going to touch
this issue. A good space to have a discussion.

Thank you so much for sharing the article in the blog,

Martín

Chair REFORMA Oregon Chapter.

From: Libs-Or [mailto:libs-or-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf
Of Max Macias
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2015 6:58 AM
To: REFORMANet at googlegroups.com
Cc: uwmosaic at u.washington.edu; libs-or; reforma_or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [Libs-Or] Fwd: Reading While White

New Blog worth checking out:

http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/  

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: nancy snyder <tf-edi at lists.ala.org>
Date: Thu, Sep 24, 2015 at 5:12 AM
Subject: Reading While White
To: Julie Todaro <jtodaro at austincc.edu>, Martin Garnar <mgarnar at uccs.edu>
Cc: "tf-edi at lists.ala.org" <tf-edi at lists.ala.org>

You may not have heard of this new blog...the posts of the creators have
already initiated engaging and honest conversation.

http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/

-- 

The ideas expressed in these emails in no way represent any organization's
viewpoints, or opinions.  The opinions, ideas and reflections are my own
personal intellectual property.

http://lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/

Twitter feed:

http://twitter.com/maxmacias

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