[Libs-Or] Why should you read this statement?

[Meredith Farkas]

Thank you so much Marci and Max for bringing this to our attention. This
was a very brave thing for the WOC+LIB group to publish and for other BIPOC
library workers to sign onto. I know it was a painful and uncomfortable
read for me because 1) I hate to think of my BIPOC colleagues experiencing
these things and 2) I know that I have not always been a good ally and have
exemplified some of the characteristics of white supremacy culture
<https://coco-net.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Coco-WhiteSupCulture-ENG4.pdf>
in my work in libraries. I try to remind myself that whatever defensiveness
and hurt I might feel reading this pales in comparison to the
marginalization, exclusion, exploitation, and abuse BIPOC library workers
experience. I encourage everyone to read the document thoughtfully and I
hope that we as individuals and within our libraries and professional orgs
can get past our defensiveness and use the suggestions in this document to
prevent further harm to our BIPOC colleagues and patrons.

Thanks again to Max and Marci who have been exceptional contributors to our
profession and shouldn't have to do all this unpaid labor to fix a problem
they had no hand in creating or perpetuating.

Best wishes,
Meredith


On Thu, Sep 9, 2021 at 12:50 PM Marci Jenkins via Libs-Or <
libs-or at omls.oregon.gov> wrote:

>
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
>
>
> The link below will direct you to a powerful statement signed by Black,
> Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) library staff from all over the
> country, including myself. As we discussed several times during the EDI
> Antiracism Toolkit trainings, BIPOC personal experiences are not to be
> questioned or diluted and they must be taken seriously. They are meant to
> be reflected upon and they should encourage us to be better and do better.
> Our experiences with systemic racism and oppression are not going to be
> pretty, and our choice of words are not going to be soft, because there is
> nothing pretty and soft about the challenges BIPOC employees experience in
> their professional lives. If the awakening needs to start somewhere, let it
> be here in our libraries, led by our libraries' leaders. I wish we could
> set the tone for institutions all over the public and private sectors in
> our state, but if this is too "ambitious", I hope that we can at least make
> an effort to read, understand and support beginning here.
>
>
>
>
> https://www.wocandlib.org/features/2021/9/3/statement-against-white-appropriation-of-black-indigenous-and-people-of-colors-labor
> <https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/sOh3CAD2O9S2DvwtGf3_Z>
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> *Marci Ramiro-Jenkins*
> *Oregon Library Association Vice President, 2021-2022*
>
> *olavp at olaweb.org* <olavp at olaweb.org>
>
> The ideas and beliefs expressed in this email are my own
>
>
>
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