Conviviencias with Chicana/o Librarians Across Time and Space

• In Event: zzzzzz Withdrawn per 4/23 Emergent Historical Methodologies and Pedagogies: Chicana/o/Latina/o Movement-Building Researchers Disrupting Supremacist Educational Infrastructures

Abstract

Objectives
This paper engages the audience in a discussion of convivencias, a collaboration praxis rooted in a critical race historical methodology. This methodological insight stems from a larger research project on the activism of critical Chicana/o librarians that advocated for anti-racism and social justice. The history of Latina/o/x children’s literature and librarianship is not well documented, however, there is evidence of its relevance to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and the demand for more culturally relevant materials for students of all ages. Considering this context, this paper explores how convivencias with librarians yielded counternarratives of activism to challenge the censorship and banning— past, present, and future.

Theoretical Framework, Methods & Methodology
This paper foregrounds a Critical Race Educational History Methodology (CREH) which calls for challenging dominant ideology by acknowledging racism, the need for social justice work and transdisciplinary perspectives, and honoring the experiential knowledge of People of Color (Santos et al., 2017). Grounded in Critical Race Theory in Education (Solórzano, 1997), this approach challenges white supremacist ideologies and the continuity of censorship while creating space for counternarratives of activism through oral histories.

Findings & Scholarly Significance
Findings from the convivencias, include connections between racial realism, the permeance of racism in American life, and its ability to adapt over time (Bell, 1991), to racist policies and how they impact children’s literature and librarianship today. In addition, counternarratives (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) are presented from the oral histories of two Chicana/o librarians and their activism to challenge English-only and anti-immigrant rhetoric for Latina/o/x communities. For example, California’s Proposition 227 in 1998, seemingly did not intend to censor books or literature for Latina/o/x communities however, the racist nativist policy did impact bilingual literature for children in schools by eliminating bilingual education in a state with a high percentage of Spanish-speaking Latina/o/x population. Public librarians in California collaborated with local districts to re-distribute bilingual books from schools to Spanish-speaking communities. Racial realism is a tale as old as time, however, findings presented in this paper discuss the importance of convivencias in documenting the activism of Chicana/o librarians who have been at the forefront of transforming librarianship for Latina/o/x communities. These perspectives are urgent and necessary to transform the field, as we find ourselves contending with the continued attack on children’s literature and intellectual freedom today.

Author

• Lorena Camargo Gonzalez, California State University - Sacramento