Knowledge Justice Disrupting Library and Information Studies through Critical Race Theory

Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color--reimagine library and information science through the lens of critical race theory.

In Knowledge Justice, Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color scholars use critical race theory (CRT) to challenge the foundational principles, values, and assumptions of Library and Information Science and Studies (LIS) in the United States. They propel CRT to center stage in LIS, to push the profession to understand and reckon with how white supremacy affects practices, services, curriculum, spaces, and policies.

Sofia Leung (she/her) is a librarian, facilitator, and educator in the Boston area. Jorge R. López-McKnight (he/him) is a community college library worker in Austin, Texas.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
INTRODUCTION: THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING 1
Sofia Y. Leung and Jorge R. López-McKnight
I DESTROY WHITE SUPREMACY 43
INTRODUCTION TO PART I 45
Todd Honma
1 NOT THE SHARK, BUT THE WATER: HOW NEUTRALITY AND VOCATIONAL
AWE INTERTWINE TO UPHOLD WHITE SUPREMACY 49
Anastasia Chiu, Fobazi M. Ettarh, and Jennifer A. Ferretti
2 MOVING TOWARD TRANSFORMATIVE LIBRARIANSHIP: NAMING
AND IDENTIFYING EPISTEMIC SUPREMACY 73
Myrna E. Morales and Stacie Williams
3 LEANING ON OUR LABOR: WHITENESS AND HIERARCHIES OF POWER
IN LIS WORK 95
Jennifer Brown, Nicholae Cline (Coharie), and Marisa Méndez-Brady
4 TRIBAL CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN ZUNI PUEBLO: INFORMATION ACCESS
IN A CAUTIOUS COMMUNITY 111
Miranda H. Belarde-Lewis (Zuni/Tlingit) and Sarah R. Kostelecky (Zuni Pueblo)
II ILLUMINATE ERASURE 129
INTRODUCTION TO PART II: THE COURAGE OF CHARACTER AND
COMMITMENT VERSUS THE COWARDLINESS OF COMFORTABLE
CONTENTMENT 131
Anthony W. Dunbar
5 COUNTERSTORIED SPACES AND UNKNOWNS: A QUEER SOUTH ASIAN
LIBRARIAN DREAMING 141
Vani Natarajan
6 ANN ALLEN SHOCKLEY: AN ACTIVIST-LIBRARIAN FOR BLACK
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 159
Shaundra Walker
7 THE DEVELOPMENT OF US CHILDREN’S LIBRARIANSHIP AND
CHALLENGING WHITE DOMINANT NARRATIVES 177
Sujei Lugo Vázquez
8 RELEGATED TO THE MARGINS: FACULTY OF COLOR, THE
SCHOLARLY RECORD, AND THE NECESSITY OF ANTIRACIST
LIBRARY DISRUPTIONS 197
Harrison W. Inefuku
III RADICAL COLLECTIVE IMAGINATIONS TOWARD LIBERATION 217
INTRODUCTION TO PART III: FREEDOM STORIES 219
Tonia Sutherland
9 DEWHITENING LIBRARIANSHIP: A POLICY PROPOSAL FOR LIBRARIES 223
Isabel Espinal, April M. Hathcock, and Maria Rios
10 THE PRAXIS OF RELATION, VALIDATION, AND MOTIVATION:
ARTICULATING LIS COLLEGIALITY THROUGH A CRT LENS 241
Torie Quiñonez, Lalitha Nataraj, and Antonia Olivas
11 PRECARIOUS LABOR AND RADICAL CARE IN LIBRARIES
AND DIGITAL HUMANITIES 263
Anne Cong-Huyen and Kush Patel
12 PRAXIS FOR THE PEOPLE: CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND
ARCHIVAL PRACTICE 283
Rachel E. Winston
13 “GETTING INFLOMATION”: A CRITICAL RACE THEORY TALE
FROM THE SCHOOL LIBRARY 299
Kafi Kumasi
CONCLUSION: AFTERWOR(L)DING TOWARD
IMAGINATIVE DIMENSIONS 317
Sofia Y. Leung and Jorge R. López-McKnight
CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES 335
INDEX BY LORI SALMON 341