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

[Kate Lasky]

Well said, Meredith. Thank you and Marci and Max for your leadership.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from this statement.

Kate Lasky
Josephine Community Library District

From: Libs-Or <libs-or-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of Meredith Farkas via Libs-Or
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2021 12:28 PM
To: Marci Jenkins <Marci.Jenkins at mcminnvilleoregon.gov>
Cc: libs-or at omls.oregon.gov
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] Why should you read this statement?

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<mailto: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<mailto:olavp at olaweb.org>
[https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1FCbJeALX2EX3kXuKTdoYy3gPNk4G5LOt&revid=0B2g4l1aLjlC4cWxkUC9NTUNCOUQ1OVFlWHhUOGlqNVFlSnhNPQ]
The ideas and beliefs expressed in this email are my own

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