Research & Academic Scholarship

Grounded in my perspective as a deaf, Black, and trans librarian who has worked in many Library and Information Science (LIS) roles, I argue in this paper that information scientists and professionals could close the gap in representation and informa

Let’s Talk About CRT, Let’s Talk About Literacy: Modifying the Framework for Anti-Racist Library Instruction Presenters: Adrianna Martinez, Jamia Williams, Kelleen Maluski, Lalitha Nataraj, Sheila García Mazari, and Talitha Matlin Relevant Theories / Concepts Coloniality in Knowledge Production (...

Let’s Talk About CRT, Let’s Talk About Literacy: Modifying The Framework For Anti-Racist Library Instruction Panel | Thursday, May 18, 2023 | 1:15pm – 2:15pm The Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education is one of the guiding documents for librarians who provide instruction in any capacity. Although The Framework touches upon issues of privilege … Continue reading "Let’s Talk About CRT, Let’s Talk About Literacy — 2023"

The US Protest Law Tracker, part of ICNL’s US Program, follows initiatives at the state and federal level since November 2016 that restrict the right to protest. Click this link to see the full Tracker.

"For more than three decades PHR has investigated and documented the health effects and harms caused by so-called 'non-lethal' or 'less than lethal crowd-control weapons' (CCWs). PHR has conducted investigations of injuries and deaths caused by these types of weapons around the world since the 1980s and has reviewed cases upon cases of serious injuries disability and death attributed to CCWs. We have also documented and advocated against excessive use of force by police and other security agents on almost every continent over the decades. We have seen how deployment of such force poses a grave threat to fundamental human rights that are foundational in the United States: the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. "

The term ‘accountability’ in anti-racism work holds an array of understandings, as well as criticisms, and is heavily contextual in nature. Deemed a necessity by nearly all within anti-racism work due to the socialized racial superiority of whiteness and white culture, in general accountability aims to minimize oppressive manifestations of this internalized superiority experienced by white people and expand white racial identity awareness with the intent to work non-oppressively and collectively towards racial equity and justice. This qualitative research aims to more concretely conceptualize ‘accountability’ within white anti-racism work to provide clarity around such a laden, nuanced and often overused term. The research intended to focus on personal accountability, which I identified as individual practices of accountability in relation to oneself, and interpersonal accountability, which I identified as the understanding and practice of accountability in relation to others. However, as evidenced in the findings, the approach and framing of the research in such a way came with its own issues and critiques. This study contributes the voices and opinions of ten white anti-racism organizers and educators who were interviewed on their understandings of accountability, as well as the criticisms and challenges that surface in their work in its conceptualization and application. Although both literature and participants emphasized the importance of self-examination, mutual accountable interracial relationship building, and collective focus towards a shared analysis and macro-level goal of systems change to enact real change, participants highlighted further complications and challenges in the nature ‘accountability’ has been used in the work, including tokenizing people of color, reducing diverse social identities into one monolithic concept, the concept and directional flow of power, as well as an awareness of one’s underlying motives in this work. The research identified significant challenges in the application of accountability, further highlighting the complexity that white people navigate in anti-racism work.