This handout was created by myself and Melissa Kalpin Prescott (Reference Librarian, St. Cloud State University) for a session we did on how to use social media to promote social justice and maintaining your personal identity. The session was held during the Power in Diversity Leadership Conference hosted by St. Cloud State University.

SocialJusticeHandout012513.pdf

It's the second national Joint Conference for Librarians of Color in Kansas City, MO. Today was pre-conferences and tonight is the opening ceremony at the Kansas City Public Library. Some really wonderful programs are set up and I hope to be posting details and some new ideas after the conference.

http://www2.uwplatt.edu/inclusivemw/

The theme of the 2012 Midwest Culturally Inclusive Conference is "Creating the change we want to see in the world: Sharing our knowledge, truth, tools, and best practices."

The Midwest Culturally Inclusive Conference is a regional conference for business and community leaders, college students and educators - from K-12 teachers and administrators to postsecondary faculty and staff - who want to strengthen diversity throughout the Midwest and work collaboratively towards resolving issues related to equity, diversity, inclusion, representative leadership and advancing professional development opportunities.

The purpose of the conference is to facilitate participants' understanding of the economic and equity implications of diversity in a 21st century global economy, equip participants with skills to uproot discrimination across multiple forms (i.e. gender, class, race, sexual orientation, veterans and disabilities), and foster relationship building between diverse groups to promote inclusive activism.

Share

Thanks to everyone who attended my presentation at ARLD Day. It was a really great audience and I left feeling energized. I'm attaching my Prezi here:

http://bit.ly/IeXsaU

I will be presenting at the MN ARLD Day on Friday, April 27, 2012. Hope some of you can make it.

Equity and Diversity Programming in an Academic Library Setting
with Jody Gray, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota Libraries have partnered with the University of Minnesota's Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence to create programming for both the undergraduate students of color and librarians serving those communities. This session will take a practical look at how to begin developing a program for equity and diversity within an academic library setting. The presenter will demonstrate many of the tools used to create a diversity program, from defining diversity to providing educational opportunities for colleagues and students alike, as well as setting priorities and communicating to upper administration. The objective of this session is to provide a sampling of practical tools and exercises in developing a diversity action plan to bring back to your library.

Program Overview
Talk Story: Sharing Stories, Sharing Culture is a literacy program that reaches out to Asian Pacific American (APA) and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) children and their families. The program celebrates and explores Asian Pacific American (APA) and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) stories through books, oral traditions, and art to provide an interactive, enriching experience. Children and their families can connect to rich cultural activities through Talk Story in their homes, libraries, and communities. This grant is aimed to give financial support to libraries and community organizations who want to introduce a Talk Story program into their library, focusing on APA or AIAN cultures.

Talk Story grant funding is available due to the generous support of Toyota Financial Services.

Eligibility
Libraries and community organizations that serve children and their families are eligible to apply. We encourage libraries and community organizations to work together on a Talk Story program.

Please submit an Application and 500 word essay detailing what your library or community organization would do with the award and what types of programs highlighting APA or AIAN cultures you are interested in planning for your community. You may apply for either an APALA grant OR an AILA grant.

Deadline
Applications must be received by Feburary 1, 2012
Award will be announced by March 15, 2012

For more information and for the application visit us at www.talkstorytogether.org

One of the projects I worked on with the American Library Associations Office for Diversity this summer is now up on their site.

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/diversity/diversityplanning.cfm

Thanks so much to Miguel for working so hard on this with me.

I attended the Third Annual Overcoming Racism Conference on November 8-19, 2011. This conference took place at Metropolitan State University. This conference is organized by a group called Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative (FREC). FREC is made of diverse organizations with different capacities and individuals active in anti racism work.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Joe R. Feagin. Feagin is a sociologist, scholar and author, currently serving as the Ella C. McFadden Professor of Liberal Arts at Texas A & M University. He produces and maintains RacismReview online. He recently authored the book The White Racial Frame: Centuries of Racial Framing and Counter Framing. His keynote was titled The White Racial Frame and Overcoming Racism.

In the keynote, Feagin spoke of some research he and some of his colleagues conducted through interviews and diaries. The research questions were:

• Do whites of various ages still do much everyday racism?
• Has the level of white-racist framing commentary, action declined as much as opinion surveys and "post-racial' pundits suggests?
• Or has significant white-racist framed commentary and action become concentrated in the "social backstage," with less performed in the "social frontstage" because of social pressures to fake being "colorblind."

Feagin shared several excerpts from diaries that showed blatant racism being played out by individual when surrounded by peer groups. The lessons learned is that we are far from a post racial society.

Feagin provided some options for reframing; call out racist acts, teach ourselves and others how to respond to racist actions, create national multiracial organizations that call out racism and teach how to challenge racist actions.

This was a very refreshing conference. I felt that I walked away with some new ideas on how to approach the diversity work that I do.

Native American Heritage Month

Here are a few interesting news articles and resources to help inspire you:

1. "Incentives And Cultural Bias Fuel Foster System : NPR", n.d., http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141662357/incentives-and-cultural-bias-fuel-foster-system. - 3 part investigative report from National Public Radio on American Indians in foster care.

2. Menkart, Deborah. "Deepening the meaning of heritage months." Educational Leadership 56, no. 7 (April 1999): 19-21.

Abstract: Heritage month programs may actually reinforce stereotypes. When planning heritage events, schools should develop learning objectives; address values, history, and current power relationships shaping cultures; employ food and dance in context; include all Americas; portray present-day Native Americans; and examine overall school curriculum and policies.

3. Library of Congress collections for American Indian history and culture. http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/collections/index.html

4. "Celebrating American Indian Heritage | People & Places | Smithsonian Magazine", n.d., http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/american-indian-heritage.html.

Abstract: In honor of this year's National American Indian Heritage Month, Smithsonian.com explores the tragic history of the Cherokees' struggles with Andrew Jackson, takes a look at modern Native artists and investigates how to cook Native foods.

I would love to know what your organization does to celebrate American Indian Heritage Month.

Students from Ohio University's Students Teaching About Racism in Society have stirred up controversy on the web by creating a campaign called "We're a culture, not a costume!"

Personally, I am impressed with the small group of students thoughtful campaign. The reactions to the posters is, sadly, a reminder that there is still work to be done to overcome racism.

Here are a few suggested readings to help start the conversation. If you know of a good resource please let me know.

• Seto, Thelma. 1995. "Multiculturalism is not halloween." Horn Book Magazine 71, no. 2: 169-175. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 27, 2011).




• Mueller, Jennifer, Danielle Dirks, and Leslie Picca. 2007. "Unmasking Racism: Halloween Costuming and Engagement of the Racial Other." Qualitative Sociology 30, no. 3: 315-335. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 27, 2011).




• McIntosh, Peggy. 1990. "White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack." Independent School 49, no. 2: 31. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 27, 2011).