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[THREAD] A week ago, @ElanaKArnold and I wrote a letter to @jewishlibraries about the exclusion of COLOR ME IN by Natasha Diaz from a list called Love Thy Neighbor #7: The Black Jewish Experience. Nearly 60 other Jewish authors, librarians, and educators signed on.
You can read that letter here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wPp88c307R_errtQphIB7sp_9UMV4mMe/view?usp=sharing along with the co-signers.
You can also read the response we got from the Association of Jewish Libraries here, in its entirety.
You can also read the response we got from the Association of Jewish Libraries here, in its entirety.
The text of that screenshot reads:
"Dear Katherine and Elana,
Thank you for your letter.
Dina Herbert, President
Kathleen Bloomfield, Vice President/President-Elect
Association of Jewish Libraries: The Leading Authority on Judaic Librarianship
https://jewishlibraries.org/ "
"Dear Katherine and Elana,
Thank you for your letter.
Dina Herbert, President
Kathleen Bloomfield, Vice President/President-Elect
Association of Jewish Libraries: The Leading Authority on Judaic Librarianship
https://jewishlibraries.org/ "
This is not an adequate reply. We've waited for four days since then for any further response, so we've replied with specific asks.
Here they are.
1. What are the criteria for the Love Thy Neighbor list?
2. Do the criteria change depending on the topic of each specific list?
Here they are.
1. What are the criteria for the Love Thy Neighbor list?
2. Do the criteria change depending on the topic of each specific list?
3. In what ways did COLOR ME IN by Natasha Diaz not qualify for the list? In what ways does it not combat anti-semitism?
4. In what ways do the other books, specifically, combat anti-semitism?
4. In what ways do the other books, specifically, combat anti-semitism?
5. Are there people of color on the committee? Were any people of color, specifically Black Jews, consulted in the making of this list?
6. The AJL twitter account posted on June 3 a tweet that read, in part: "The work of anti-racism is exhausting, and people of all races and backgrounds need to step up, speak out, and take action." So we’d like to know what action AJL will be taking?
We believe that COLOR ME IN belongs on that list, despite of, or perhaps because, the discomfort it causes some people. We are uncomfortable with the policing of another Jewish person's depictions of the Jewish community esp as it relates to her own experience.
And we believe that the Jewish kidlit community can do better. We worry that this experience will drive JOC authors away from Jewish kidlit, instead of making room for them at the table. We believe in an inclusive, vibrant Jewish community in children's literature.
And we believe that AJL, as a long-time leader in the Jewish literature and librarianship community, and as the steward of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards, has a vital role to play in this conversation.
We hope that they'll be a part of the change. We believe that there's an important conversation to be had, and yes, it must be now.
This is the work of repairing the world.
This is the very Jewish work of making this world a more just and welcoming place.
This is the work of repairing the world.
This is the very Jewish work of making this world a more just and welcoming place.
I forgot the screenshot farther up thread, but here it is so you can see the entirety of that email:
