2020 has been an extraordinary year! I'm sure that is an understatement, but I chose the word extraordinary so that I could tag the year as neither completely awesome nor the worst year ever. It would be unfair to say either. When I'm ready to fully reflect on this year, as I have been doing pretty much since October (yes it's been that kind of year), I'll talk a bit more about the many perspective shifts I have encountered another time.
However, one phenomenon that has been pushed back up to the front of our collective consciousness is civil rights. The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the countless other precious Black lives have cast a long shadow over America and the world. Who would have thought something so dark could shed a light on the heinous injustice of racism?
Conversations that were only had in back rooms are now being held in front rooms. Workplaces and businesses are addressing racial equity with all staff and sincerely looking for ways to diminish racism and white supremacy. This work will take years. And it was not begun this year. It began scores of years ago by the many courageous pioneers of activism for the civil rights of all.
(Book featured: Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard. Illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin.)
I'm so excited to join an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee within my industry of library and information sciences. EDI committees are being established within many industries and businesses. The committees are forming groups of people who are open to beginning conversations about how to abolish racism and any social ills that exclude and dehumanize people.
I say "open to conversations" because even though the movement is not new, attitudes about how to overcome it are still in their infancy. One of the best things we can do for the work is to operate in grace. I know we all want change yesterday, but you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time.
Here's my very ambitious statement concerning EDI. I believe that ALL libraries should become EDI centers. What an excellent goal to look forward to! Libraries offer a non-intrusive environment that could handle the delicate issues of racial inequality, champion diversity, and go beyond tolerance to acceptance and inclusion of all people.
Our group is very new. We have yet to have our first meeting, but I'm ever so hopeful. Would join me in hoping for a new future in EDI? Comment down below if you agree with my statement about libraries as EDI centers. Comment down below if you have ideas about how that goal could be accomplished or some barriers you think could hinder it. I know this post is a bit longer than my usual posts, but this may be the most important work in my life to date besides my most cherished roles of wife and mother. Looking ahead to a brighter day...