Drowned Disillusions
Hridi Das, Creative Up Root Publication Hridi Das, Creative Up Root Publication

Drowned Disillusions

Hridi Das uses poetic prose to reimagine the disillusionment of BIPOC librarians in a fantasy imbued with elements of the sea. The use of metaphor gives a quality of anthropomorphization to the “90% of LIS is white” statistic. The piece sets the scene by starting off with statements that are direct to the injustice suffered, some inspired by recent events, others old as time. The writing takes a deep dive from there on by immersing the reader into the fantasy world.

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The House Archives Built
Dorothy Berry, Feature Dorothy Berry Dorothy Berry, Feature Dorothy Berry

The House Archives Built

The current trend focusing on liberating the concept of archives from physical institutions has served to mentally leave behind Black collections held in predominantly white institutions. Dorothy Berry reflects on the conflict of archives versus the archives, and how the fundamental structures of archives can disserve Black archival subjects by foregrounding ownership, collecting, and homogeneity.

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The Displays: On Anti-Racist Study and Institutional Enclosure
David James Hudson, Feature Up Root Publication David James Hudson, Feature Up Root Publication

The Displays: On Anti-Racist Study and Institutional Enclosure

The middle months of 2020 saw a surge in apparent institutional interest in Black freedom struggles, an intensified emphasis on information-sharing and study as anti-racist responses, and a frenzied circulation of anti-racist reading lists. David James Hudson explores the current dynamics of and historical backdrop to this institutional attention, reflecting in particular on what both the intensified interest and the make-up of the reading lists can tell us about the dynamics of anti-racism under racial capitalism.

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