Epistemicide is the killing, silencing, annihilation, or devaluing of a knowledge system and this happens when epistemic injustices are persistent and systematic and collectively work as a structured and systemic oppression of our particular ways of knowing. Thus far, we’ve identified 4 types of epistemic injustices: testimonial, hermeneutical, participatory, and curriculum. Assumptions of neutrality in language, social processes, and professions are part of how we arrived at the present historical moment in time. Acknowledgement of and taking steps to interrupt epistemic injustices and its specific harms are necessary actions towards justice.

Readings

Patin, B., Sebastian, M., Yeon, J., & Bertolini, D. (2020). Toward epistemic justice: An approach for conceptualizing epistemicide in the information professions. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 57(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.242

RECORDING

Within the broader social and political landscape of current racial currents, this book talk will discuss the life and professional career of librarian, educator, and activist E.J. Josey.

Readings

Technology is an invaluable tool in the mission to make our society fully equitable, diverse and inclusive. In this session, Watson will discuss how the 38-branch Broward County Library system uses technology in their quest to achieve those goals and suggest how other cultural and educational institutions may do so also. Technology has been a means of outreach to “invite the uninvited” and extend our values into the community at large. This presentation will explore successfully harnessing technology to philosophy in service to our beliefs about equity, diversity and inclusion.

Readings

How Libraries Harness Technology to Create Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

RECORDING

Dr. Porchia Moore will discuss the power of cultural heritage institutions such as libraries, archives, and museums to empower communities to facilitate change. Dr. Porchia Moore will share reflections on museums in the Information Age, her journey as a museum professional, and provide an overview of the rise of museum activism. This talk will examine the role of race in interrogating the structure of museums in the 21st century and the role that DEIA practices play in helping to shape change in the world. Dr. Moore will reflect on the viability and possibilities of Critical Race Theory to dismantle white supremacy and share reflections on how museum professionals, librarians, and other cultural workers are poised to lead positive resistance to historic systems of oppressions and racial and social inequalities. Dr. Moore will examine the implications of working in cultural heritage when ideologies such as "America First", "MAGA", sentiments of anti multiculturalism and other Trumpisms are a direct threat to a shared understanding of cultural heritage and the collection, exhibition, and preservation of material culture.

Recording

For the marginalized in libraries, silence is deafening and the omissions have been damaging. The oppression has been all consuming and everywhere. This silence has caused irreparable harm, damage, and trauma. The power that libraries, galleries, museums, and archives hold is immense and long lasting. Yet the silence that exists in these powerful spaces continue to cause harm to the BIPOC library workers that exist within them.

Violence isn’t always or only physical. It also is perpetuated through silence. In this form, it is more insidious, subtle, and invisible. It erodes hope, destroys faith, and breeds mistrust. This psychological and emotional violence is incredibly widespread, intergenerational, and multi-faceted. There is the silence of not speaking up, of not knowing, of not being represented, and of not be heard at all. There is an oppressive quality of white supremacist culture that silences those it deems the other. This talk will examine the silences that exist within our profession, ask you to question how our silences reinforce whiteness in our spaces and how we can do the challenging yet necessary work to break through this form of violence.

Diversity and Inclusion in Libraries: Be the Change Agent!

The news and scholarly literature are replete with stories and articles describing the challenges that diverse individuals face in their local communities and workplaces. This presentation will explore what inclusion looks like in library environments and the actions it takes to make the process successful. As information professionals, it is our collective responsibility to cultivate environments where individuals feel welcomed, safe, valued, seen, heard, and appreciated regardless of the identities they hold. Sanctioning inclusion in any environment requires all of us to embrace change and challenge the status quo. This presentation will offer best practice strategies for being change agents in developing diverse and inclusive environments.

Readings

Espinal, I., Sutherland, T., & Roh, C. (2018). A Holistic Approach for Inclusive Librarianship: Decentering Whiteness in Our Profession. Library Trends, 67(1), 147-162. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2018.0030

Jones, S. D., & Murphy, B. (2019). Diversity and inclusion in libraries. Rowman & Littlefield.

Mardigian, K. A Conversation about Inclusivity in the Workplace with Dr. Tiffany Jana. https://blog.blueoceanbrain.com/blog/dr-tiffany-jana

Plummer, D. (2019). Some of My Friends Are. Beacon Press.

Willis, D. S. (2020). How to be a change agent for diversity, equity and inclusion in your career and job search (opinion). Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/12/14/how-be-change-agent-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-your-career-and-job-search

RECORDING