Dr. Rafael Outland (Alfred University) and Dr. Thomas Joel, Jr. (Morgan State University) will discuss their recently published book. Dr. Angi Felber (Alfred University) will serve as the event moderator. This conversation is especially relevant for students, educators, activists, organizers, and scholars seeking a deeper understanding of the relationship between colonial violence, history of policing in the U.S., and the impact of police killings, as a public health epidemic, on survivors and communities.
This event is sponsored by the AU Libraries Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Steering Committee, H/EOP, Sister Circle, Umoja, and the Judson Leadership Center
Dr. Raphael Outland, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Alfred University
Dr. Thomas Noel, Jr., Assistant Professor, Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy, Morgan State University
Dr. Angeline Felber, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Alfred University
In the summer of 2020, Alfred University Libraries made a Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression. In this commitment, we affirmed our support for the mission of the Black Lives Matter movement, recognized the role libraries have played in creating and perpetuating systems of oppression (we are not immune), and committed to action items — both short-term and long-term — designed to strengthen the inclusivity of AU Libraries. Our commitment was intended to be a living document, supporting a sustainable and ongoing process of change.
In this post, we continue informing the Alfred University community on our progress and lay out where we plan on going next.
2021-22 Progress:
We continued working to establish a Student Advisory Group (SAG) with the mission of providing a dedicated venue for student input and feedback on where the Libraries are doing well and where there is room for improvement.
We acknowledge that at this point we have had difficulty sustaining the SAG, but we believe it is important to keep working towards this goal.
Over the course of the year we worked to secure both funds and permission from University administration to pay SAG members for their time and contributions to the Libraries. We believe that compensating people for their mental and emotional labor is important, and we are excited to have accomplished this piece of implementing the SAG.
Bystander Intervention and Conflict Deescalation training facilitated by Right to Be (formerly Hollaback!) was incorporated into the Fall AU Libraries retreat for all professional library personnel.
Incorporated the Alfred University Land Acknowledgement (developed in collaboration with the Seneca Nation) and a page on accessibility in the libraries into the new AU Libraries website (libraries.alfred.edu)
A reading and discussion group for library personnel focused on anti-racism and anti-oppression met several times. We discussed:
First meeting: Convened the group, established ground rules/norms, discussed the overall mission of the group, and brainstormed articles to read.
Khuu, Michelle. “Make the Library Loud: Removing communication barriers for library workers with hearing loss.” up//root.
Brown, Jennifer. “Are student workers the answer to our diversity ‘problem’?” WOC+lib.
Farkas, Meredith. “So I’m a conspiracy theorist now? A call for retraction.” Information Wants To Be Free. and Soehner, Catherine B. and Chanel Roe. “Conspiratorial Thinking in Academic Libraries: Implications for Change Management and Leadership.” In the Library with the Lead Pipe.
All professional library personnel were encouraged to participate in Safe Zone training.
Established a Zine collection to add voices, perspectives, and modalities of expression not traditionally included in academic libraries.
Subscribed to the Black Life in America database and the Diversity and Ethnic Studies electronic book collection to improve coverage of the experience and impact of African Americans, and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Conducted an audit of furniture in public library spaces aimed at evaluating the presence of products of prison labor. The process and outcomes of this audit were presented at the annual conference of the SUNY Librarians Association.
Ongoing Projects:
Continue working with the Student Advisory Group to hear, discuss, and integrate student suggestions and feedback for library collections, events, projects, services, displays, and policies.
Continue reading and discussion group for library personnel focused on anti-racism and anti-oppression topics.
Continue soliciting feedback from the student body on “What would make you feel more welcome and/or comfortable in the Alfred University Libraries?”
Strongly encourage all professional library personnel to participate in Safe Zone training.
Integrate anti-racist and/or anti-oppression values and language into the Alfred University Libraries Mission, Vision, and Values.
Expand the Libraries’ anti-oppression efforts to explicitly incorporate other marginalized populations, such as the LGBTQ+ and disability communities.
Include the Alfred University land-acknowledgement statement at the start of all library programs.
Survey library staff for feedback on bystander intervention and conflict de escalation training.
New Action Items:
Implement ethical purchasing recommendations for furniture, and continue to develop guidelines for other library purchases.
Contribute to discussions within SUNY about bias in catalog records/critical cataloging.
Encourage staff to include pronouns in email signatures.
Develop documentation of equitable hiring procedures — based on the 2020-21 librarian search process and a continued evaluation of best-practices — to inform future library searches.
Along with notes about the aspects of the search which improved equity, this documentation should include notes on the trouble-spots which were identified during the search and suggestions for addressing them in future searches.
Stop by and check our AU Libraries’ Pride displays at Herrick and Scholes!
Pride book display in Scholes Library
While supporting the voices of those in the LGBTQAI+ community is a year-round commitment, Pride Month presents an opportunity to really foreground the issues, ideas, and art of the LGBTQAI+ community.
Not only is Pride Month a time for celebration, but it is also a time for remembrance of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. This event, also known as the Stonewall Uprising, sparked a new wave of activism and tradition, which has grown over the past few decades.
According to the American Library Association, LGBTQ+ content is one of the most often cited reasons books are banned or challenged. Alfred University Libraries seek to be active partners in support of the LGBTQAI+ community, the freedom to read, and a welcoming and inclusive space for all. Here you can read the full AU Libraries Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression including progress on our action items.
Pride book display in Herrick Library
Examples of Materials on Display (stop by for more!)
Below are some of the voices on display through June. Stop into either Herrick or Scholes Library for more materials and resources!
Spanning 125 years, Art and Queer Culture is the first major historical survey to consider the ways in which the codes and cultures of homosexuality have provided a creative resource for visual artists. Attempts to trouble the conventions of gender and sexuality, to highlight the performative aspects of identity and to oppose the tyranny of the normal are all woven into the historical fabric of homosexuality and its representation. From Oscar Wilde to Ryan Trecartin, from the molly houses of eighteenth-century London to the Harlem drag balls of the 1920s, the flamboyant refusal of social and sexual norms has fueled the creation of queer art and life throughout the modern period.
The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College by John Baez, Jennifer Howd, Rachel Pepper and Princeton Review
Herrick Memorial Library Display LB2343.32 B225 2007 A practical guide to higher education addresses the specific challenges confronting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students during their college career, covering such topics as how to select a college, dorm life, activism, health resources, support networks, and issues and resources for LGBT youth of color.
Herrick Memorial Library Display HQ76.965 .G38 B78 2016
On June 28, 1970, two thousand gay and lesbian activists in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago paraded down the streets of their cities in a new kind of social protest, one marked by celebration, fun, and unashamed declaration of a stigmatized identity. Forty-five years later, over six million people annually participate in 115 Pride parades across the United States.
Herrick Memorial Library Display HQ76.3 .U5 H3695 2009
In television shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and movies like Brokeback Mountain, as well as gay young adult novels and other media coverage of queer people – including the outing of several prominent Republicans – queer lives are becoming more visible in the media and in U.S. culture more generally. How does the increasing visibility of queer subjects within mainstream culture affect possibilities for radical and transformative queer activism?
Herrick Memorial Library DisplayHQ73.3 .U6 A44 2019
In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross-country road trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah, to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible belt and to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: ‘Something gay every day.’ Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to extraordinary LGBT people working for change, including the first openly transgender mayor in Texas, a bisexual activist in Mississippi, the manager of the only queer bar in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more. Along the way, Allen weaves in her own moving story of discovering her identity, venturing out of the closet, meeting her wife, and creating a national network of chosen family.
Herrick Memorial Library Display HQ76.8 .U5 D85 2019
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of responding with the routine compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. The five days of rioting that ensued changed forever the face of gay and lesbian life. In Stonewall, renowned historian and activist Martin Duberman tells the full story of this pivotal moment in history. With riveting narrative skill, he recreates those revolutionary, sweltering nights in vivid detail through the lives of six people who were drawn into the struggle for LGBTQ rights.
We Are Here presents the bold and nuanced work of Black and Brown visionaries transforming the art world, with a particular focus on queer, trans and nonbinary artists. This collection features fifty of the most influential voices in New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. Striking photography of art, creative spaces, materials, and the subjects themselves is paired with intimate interviews that engage with each artist and influencer, delving into their creative process and unpacking how each subject actively works to create a more radically inclusive world across the entire art ecosystem.
Zanele Muholi by Zanele Muholi, Sarah Allen, & Yasufmi Nakamori
Scholes Library Display NH681.H65 M842 2020
Born in South Africa in 1972, Zanele Muholi came to prominence in the early 2000s with photographs that sought to envision black lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and intersex lives beyond deviance or victimhood. Muholi’s work challenges hetero-patriarchal ideologies and representations, presenting the participants in their photographs as confident and beautiful individuals bravely existing in the face of prejudice, intolerance, and, frequently, violence.
Additional Resources
Below are resources for those looking to further their education, join the community, and keep Pride going all year long!
Alfred University Libraries has a new, primary source collection: Black Life in America from NewsBank. This electronic resource explores the African-American experience as recorded by the news media from 1704-1975. Black Life in America includes over 400 African-American publications and draws resources from over 19,000 U.S. and global news sources. The collection offers perspective into centuries of African-American history and culture.
The new Black Life in America database is part of AU Libraries’ ongoing commitment to create more inclusive collections via actively adding the work of BIPOC scholars to library collections and adding resources to support anti-oppression research and work.
The Black Life in America interface can be explored via traditional searching methods, such as using keywords and Boolean operators—it can also be searched via location, using a map to identify and narrow down publications from specific regions and locales.
Black Life in America groups resources into the following historical eras: Arrival in America (Beginning-1783), Antebellum (1784-1860), Civil War (1861-1865), Reconstruction (1866-1877), Jim Crow (1878-1922), Great Migration (1923-1944), and Civil Rights Movement (1945-1975). Within each era, users can find curated information of activist groups and protests, court decisions, education, government, labor, laws and legislation, literature and the arts, military, notable people, religion, science and technology, society and culture, and unrest and acts of violence. There is also era-specific curated information within each historical section.
For more information on how to search and navigate the Black Life in America database, please watch the following video from NewsBank: https://bit.ly/3isu1Iq.
PBS Native American Heritage Month Through dance, family traditions, art, and music, these stories show both the contemporary diversity and long history of Indigenous people across the land we now call the United States.
Native American Heritage Month, Exhibits and Collections The official .gov website lists exhibits and collections from the Library of Congress, National ARchives, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, as well as curated social media offerings.
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture produces online exhibitions illustrating themes and ideas related to Native American material culture. Some online exhibitions complement the exhibitions on view in the galleries, others are created specifically for the Web.
Indigenous Research & Knowledges in North America, University of Colorado Boulder An overview of indigenous knowledge and starting points for exploring these knowledges by geography, format of materials, or theme. This guide intentionally centers materials created by indigenous peoples. Some resources from our archival collections or other databases contain valuable documents by indigenous peoples among other documents authored by settler colonialists, colonizing governments, or non-indigenous scholars.
In the summer of 2020, Alfred University Libraries made a Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression. In this commitment, we affirmed our support for the mission of the Black Lives Matter movement, recognized the role libraries have played in creating and perpetuating systems of oppression (we are not immune), and committed to action items — both short-term and long-term — designed to strengthen the inclusivity of AU Libraries. Our commitment was intended to be a living document, supporting a sustainable and ongoing process of change.
One year on from the initial publication of our commitment, we want to update the Alfred University community on our progress and lay out where we plan on going next.
2020-21 Progress:
All professional library personnel participated in a retreat focused on implicit bias and microaggressions, with a focus on how these manifest in libraries and colleges/universities.
All professional library personnel participated in a retreat focused on Psychological First-Aid (PFA) training, with a focus on how the approach can be used to support the students, staff, faculty, and others in the Alfred community.
All professional library personnel were encouraged to participate in Safe Zone training.
A Student Advisory Group was established with the mission of providing a dedicated venue for student input and feedback on where the Libraries are doing well and where there is room for improvement. All AU students are welcome to participate in the group, but the focus is to provide a space to platform the voices of the marginalized students in our community.
The Student Advisory Group helped facilitate progress on several action items in the Commitment, including soliciting suggestions for collection development; evaluating spaces, services, and policies; and collaborating with students on library displays and programs.
Integrated dedicated training and best-practices to reduce bias and increase equity in the search and hiring process for a new librarian. Documentation and lessons-learned from this process will inform future searches.
Dedicated collection development funds to build the Libraries’ collections of BIPOC scholars and works focused on DEI and anti-oppression work.
Physical materials were purchased from a Black-owned bookseller: Kizzy’s Books & More.
In collaboration with the Seneca Nation and the Institute for Cultural Unity, the Alfred University Archives developed a land-acknowledgement statement for Alfred University recognizing the history of the land we are on and the historical and continuing relationship with the Native Peoples of this area.
Identified “inclusion” as one of three focus areas for the 2021-2024 AU Libraries Strategic Plan.
Wrote a brief article for the SUNY Librarians’ Association (SUNYLA) newsletter about the process of developing and implementing the AU Libraries Commitment to Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression with the intention of providing inspiration and insight for other institutions considering developing similar statements/commitments.
Adams, K., Bahr, E., Dannick, S., and Romanchock, M. “Making a Commitment to Address Racial Injustice: One Library’s Experience.” SUNYLA News 51(1). SUNY Librarians Association, February 2021.
Ongoing Projects:
Continue working with the Student Advisory Group to hear, discuss, and integrate student suggestions and feedback for library collections, events, projects, services, displays, and policies.
Continue soliciting feedback from the student body on “What would make you feel more welcome and/or comfortable in the Alfred University Libraries?”
Require all professional library personnel to participate in bystander intervention training.
Strongly encourage all professional library personnel to participate in Safe Zone training.
Integrate anti-racist and/or anti-oppression values and language into the Alfred University Libraries Mission, Vision, and Values.
Begin a reading and discussion group for library personnel focused on anti-racism and anti-oppression.
New Action Items:
Expand the Libraries’ anti-oppression efforts to explicitly incorporate other marginalized populations, such as the LGBTQ+ and disability communities.
Include the Alfred University land-acknowledgement statement at the start of all library programs.
Develop documentation of equitable hiring procedures — based on the 2020-21 librarian search process and continued evaluation of best-practices — to inform future library searches.
Along with notes about the aspects of the search which improved equity, this documentation should include notes on the trouble-spots which were identified during the search and suggestions for addressing them in future searches.
Alfred University Libraries stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and global movements responding to the systemic racism and anti-Black violence that recently claimed the lives of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and innumerable others. We recognize that this movement is intersectional and essential to dismantling oppression. We appreciate and endorse the statements of Alfred University and the American Library Association, which show support for all marginalized communities, especially the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community.
Affirming that Black Lives Matter engages with our Libraries’ value of supporting “intellectual and cultural diversity” and recommits us to the strategic goals of recruiting and retaining “a diverse and talented staff” and to developing “library programming that makes the libraries a center for intellectual discussion.” We recognize, however, that this is not enough.
The Libraries acknowledge that an ongoing history of oppression occurs not just in areas such as policing, housing, employment, and healthcare, but also in library services, where there are many examples of libraries being complacent or complicit in the oppression of BIPOC. Alfred University Libraries do not claim immunity from complicity in this history of systemic racism.
Current events show us that unvoiced support for marginalized communities is only slightly better than no support at all, so we are actively adding our voice. However, this is only the first step. We also commit to “walking the walk” in order to create a more equitable, inclusive, and empowering environment, and a more just society. As a start, we will take the following concrete steps: Creating a more inclusive environment:
Solicit feedback from students on “What would make you feel more welcome and/or comfortable in the Alfred University Libraries?” Partner with the Institute for Cultural Unity to ensure students from marginalized groups are aware that we are asking for their feedback.
Require all library personnel to participate in implicit bias and bystander intervention training (see Appendix).
Strongly encourage library personnel to participate in Psychological First-Aid (PFA) and Safe Zone training (see Appendix).
Evaluate the library search and hiring process to reduce bias and increase equity and to incorporate best-practices.
Integrate anti-racist and/or anti-oppression values and language into the AU Libraries Mission, Vision, and Values.
Creating more inclusive collections:
Actively add the work of BIPOC scholars to library collections.
Add resources to support anti-oppression research and work to library collections.
Solicit suggestions from students on collecting library materials by and/or about BIPOC.
Whenever possible, ensure that library displays include works by marginalized creators/authors.
Expand collaboration with student groups for library displays and events.
Educating ourselves:
Begin a discussion group for library personnel focusing on works from a list of anti-racist resources or a list of anti-oppression readings focused on libraries and librarianship (see Appendix).
Create a resource guide focused on anti-oppression (see Appendix).
We commit to regularly evaluating our progress and continuing to build on this statement and commitment. We welcome input from our patrons and our community on additional steps we can take as we work toward improving ourselves as professionals and as the Alfred University Libraries. Appendix: Example Trainings and Resources
To guide the implementation of the actionable steps in our commitment, Alfred University Libraries recommend these examples and resources to be used as appropriate.
Implicit bias training may include gender and sexuality issues but should also include racial issues such as micro and macroaggressions. One such example is UCLA’s “KNOW” Implicit Bias. This page provides a video series and modules as well as scholarship and additional videos.
Psychological First Aid (PFA) trainings equip trainees to respond to disasters and other traumatic events that affect a community by focusing on safety, stabilization, and connecting people to helpful resources. The American Psychological Association has compiled lists of resources and PFA providers.
Safe Zone trainings create the opportunity to learn about different identities, particularly LGBTQIA+ people and the prejudices that they face. One example of Safe Zone training is provided by the Safe Zone Project.
Lists of anti-racist resources take many meaningful forms. One example of a list that pertains directly to higher education was compiled by #ShutDownSTEM.
Herrick Library is hosting an exhibit organized by Professor Susan Morehouse and students in English 217, Blood, and Guts and Alphabets: The Gory Truth about Children’s Literature. The exhibit includes books from Herrick Library’s Children’s Collection, selected for their demonstration (in both text and images) of diversity and anti-bias in early literature for children.
The students stated, “We believe that if children learn appreciation for other people, cultures, places, and beliefs alongside their abc’s they will have the power to change the world.”
As part of the group project and exhibit, the students developed “5 Do’s for Creating an Anti-Bias Early Reader Library.” DO the books in your library reflect diverse cultures and diverse lifestyles?
Do they show the values and beliefs of different cultures that reflect the contemporary world? Do they inspire students to learn more about diverse cultures? Is history also accurately represented?
DO the books in your library reflect the truth of cultures, lifestyles, and abilities?
Do they avoid injurious or demeaning stereotypes? Do they avoid tokenism, showing a diversity of cultures and abilities as a regular part of life?
DO your books include authors from a variety of different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities?
Do they include the visions and voices of writers and artists of diverse cultures?
DO the books in your library cover people, places, cultures, etc. in your everyday life?
Do they show women and men, and girls and boys, in non-traditional or non-gender-typed roles?
DO you have a wide variety of family dynamics visible in your library?
Families are more ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse than half a generation ago. Does your library reflect this?
The books and related documentation will be on exhibit in Herrick through the end of the fall 2019 semester.
Alfred University’s Herrick Memorial Library is hosting the traveling exhibit, Recognizing Women’s Right to Vote in New York State, from now through Friday, March 2.
New York State is celebrating the centennial of women gaining the right to vote in New York State on November 6, 1917—three years before the 19th Amendment was passed and women throughout the United States gained the right to vote. The South Central Regional Library Council and the Empire State Library Network have partnered with the Digital Public Library of America on the exhibit, which looks beyond the traditional Women’s Suffrage narrative and explores the history behind the movement that made New York State such an important place in the fight for Women’s Suffrage.
The exhibit includes five panels, each showing a different theme: Woman Suffrage before 1848 – Explores voting in New York State before the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, including in the colonies and among the Haudenosaunee people. Women’s Rights Activity up to 1848 and the Seneca Falls and Rochester Conventions – Women and men organized to restore the right to vote to women, among other rights. Pop Culture Suffrage – Suffragists displayed brilliance when it came to promoting their cause, and packaged their message in consumer goods, created songs and theater performances, formed parades and processions, and traveled through rural areas, knocking on doors. Anti-Suffrage – Most women and men believed that equality for women would lead to the destruction of the state. The Anti-suffrage movement engaged in public debates, created publicity materials to counter those of the suffragists, and argued that support for Women’s Suffrage was unpatriotic, especially during World War I. Race and Diversity – The early Women’s Suffrage movement embraced women of all races, but overt racism in the later years led some suffragists to argue for the inclusion of all races winning the right to vote—including those effectively denied their voting rights.
For more information, contact Herrick Library at herricklibrary@alfred.edu.
The exhibit includes books from Herrick Library’s Children’s Collection, selected for their demonstration (in both text and images) of diversity and anti-bias in early literature for children.
DO the books in your library reflect the truth of cultures, lifestyles, and abilities?
