LEARN. REFLECT. ACT....REFLECT

We are at the halfway point of the first week of the 21-Day Anti-Racist Challenge. Today's morning email theme is on The Expression of Racial Diversity in Your Bookstore.

Every Challenge Morning email is divided into four parts -- "Learn," an overview of the morning's theme, "Reflect," some questions to consider, "Act," a series of steps to take, and finally a "Dig Deeper" section of more resources to look at.

For many people it is tempting to skip right to the "Act" section. It gives something concrete to do (today's suggestions is to write an Anti-Racist statement for your store). And doing something makes us feel like we are, well, doing something. Something positive towards making a better world.

But it is perhaps the "Reflect" section that is the most important part of each morning's Challenge. Those questions it asks are questions that we can keep asking, in all sorts of situations. In fact, the point of the entire Challenge is to question our assumptions and (more to the point) get into the habit of questioning our assumptions.

This morning's REFLECT questions ask us to take a hard look at the books we stock, the books we promote, and the books we choose to read for ourselves:

• Are your reading choices, and what's displayed on your staff picks’ shelf inclusive of BIPOC authors?
  
• Are you buying books and gifts that reflect white authorship/white audience?
  
• What is the BIPOC representation in your online and in-store displays?
  
• What is the BIPOC representation in your author event programming?
  
• Could you and your store culture be actively supporting white superiority, even if unconsciously?
  

Replace "books" with other words of things you like or support -- music, sports, charities, local causes, newspaper columnists, television series you like to binge watch -- and all those questions above are still relevant, still worth asking, worth reflection.

Registration for the 21-Day Challenge remains open. Earlier posts can be seen anytime on the Challenge blog.

Can you take the Fifteen Percent Pledge?

The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a racial equity and economic justice non-profit organization working towards a more equitable economic future. As Black people in the U.S. make up about 15% of the population, the organization calls on retailers to commit to spending 15% of their annual purchasing on Black-owned brands.

A number of large retailers have already signed on, including well-known names such as Banana Republic, Bloomingdale's, Crate & Barrel, Gap, Hudson's Bay, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Old Navy.

The idea started, as many grassroots movements do, with a social media post, when in May of 2020 Aurora James tagged some of the world's largest retail brands and said "We represent 15% of the population and we need to represent 15% of your shelf space."

It was the right message at the right time, and now, thanks to the Fifteen Percent pledge, over $10 billion dollars of revenue has been shifted to Black-owned businesses.

For a consumer, the pledge is a simple commitment to shop black-owned businesses. There is a directory on the Pledge website, and you can also consult the AMIBA Shop Black-Owned resource page.

As a bookstore owner the task is more challenging. While it is possible to source 15% of your gifts and sidelines from Black-owned companies, your inventory comes largely from the same dozen or so main suppliers.

You can, however, increase the number of books by Black authors on your shelves. What would your YA section look like if you applied that 15% pledge to the shelf space you give it? What about your Romance section? What about Biographies & Memoirs?

Take the pledge

What are your plans for Black History Month? Are they enough?

Black History Month was made "official" in 1976 by President Gerald Ford, as an opportunity "to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history." Of course, the presidential declaration was a culmination of a long fight for the acknowledgment of Black contributions to this country, beginning in 1926 when the historians Carter G. Woodsen and Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and set aside a week in February to honor Black history.

Most bookstores acknowledge Black History Month in some manner. They will create special displays for Black History Month. They may host a special event, or assign books by Black authors for store book clubs and storytimes. But these things have become almost rote actions. A month later they will do the same things for Women's History Month. A month after that, for Poetry Month.

"To honor" is "to show great esteem and respect." And this is something we could all ask ourselves as February and Black History Month approaches. Does a book display really show "GREAT respect"? Are there other things a bookstore can do that would be more in the spirit of honoring the history and impact of Black Americans, and the meaning of Black History Month?

Ron Carucci and Christopher Littlefield, who write about leadership issues for Forbes Magazine, have created a kind of checklist for business leaders to bring the original meaning and purpose of Black History Month back to the forefront, based on the work of Dr. Zoe Spencer, activist professor of sociology at Virginia State University and CEO of Diverse Relations Group LLC.:

1. Test your assumptions about Black history. Does "Black History" for you begin with slavery? Did racism end with Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil Rights Amendment?

2. Be brave enought to challenge your version of history. Black people have been denied credit for many of their accomplishments. This is simple fact. Don’t be afraid to unlearn.

3. Examine how the media shapes your narrative. How many Black faces do you see in the television programs you are watching, and what are their roles? What about your social media feeds? Who are you choosing to follow and friend?

4. Challenge unfounded narratives when you hear them. This is where bookstores shine. Bookstores are centers of knowledge and information. They are in the business of putting knowledge into the hands of their customers, and of advising people what is worth reading. So it is worth asking, how is your store plan for Black History Month challenging some of those unfounded narratives?

Ultimately, Dr. Spencer notes, Black History Month should be "a meaningful, honorable, and transformative experience for all," and one that "expands our knowledge of and respect for Black contributions to world civilization."

Read more

SIBA has created this 21-Day Challenge as part of its commitment to provide anti-racist initiatives and training to its membership. This is the third year SIBA has held this challenge, and the content has been updated to reflect recent concerns and issues, and to make recently created resources available. Even if you have participated in the challenge in the past, you will find new material available to you this year.

The Challenge will begin on February 6th. Registration will close on Sunday. February 5th. Each day, participants will be emailed a prompt for reflection, discussion, and action. The prompts will also appear on this blog, along with more ideas and resources as the Challenge progresses.

The Challenge is divided into three weekly themes:

Week 1: Anti-Racism and Your Bookstore
Week 2: Anti-Racism and Your Community
Week 3: Creating an Equitable Society - Change starts now.

We call this a "Challenge" because it will be hard work. Participants last year remarked that it requires a time commitment, and the willingness to self-pace as necessary to avoid being overwhelmed. To make this a success, keep in mind these three tips:

1. Grant yourself extra time for working on each day’s prompt. Sit with whatever comes up, and pause before reentering space with others.
   
   
2. Keep a journal of some kind handy to jot down your thoughts and feelings as they occur. This will be an invaluable record as you work through the challenge.
   
   
3. Welcome to the first day of the rest of of your life! The Challenge is an opportunity to apply what you’re learning to your everyday life, but it’s not something that ends after 21 days. Becoming anti-racist is an ongoing process and this challenge is meant to support you on your ever-evolving journey.

SIBA created "The Anti-Racist Bookseller" column as a resource for booksellers seeking to keep their anti-racist work going throught the year. A new article appears in each SIBA newsletter.

Booksellers already know that books change lives. Words change lives. But it is the people who read them who take what they have learned and go on to change the world. We can't wait to see the changes each of you will make.

Register to take the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge

Revisiting your DEI Statement

In the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020 and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, many business and organizations adopted Diversity statements to show their solidarity with the grass roots movement advocating for change and also as a promise the enact change within.

As the year comes to a close, it may be the time to ask, have we kept that promise?

Organizations should periodically re-examine their Diversity Statements and policies to ensure they meet their goals. DEI Statements inform policy and provide guidance, so they will evolve with the company while being a compass that always points towards equity.

A DEI Statement can vary widely, but they usually include some or all of the following:

• A statement of the company’s mission
  
• An explanation of how DEI connects to that mission
  
• A call-out to specific underrepresented groups
  
• High-level examples of DEI efforts

(via)

A best practice when writing your organization's DEI statement is to make it specific to your company, rather than generic and abstract. Use a strong headline, positive language, and include specific examples of how the organization meets the goals stated in its mission.

Tips and examples of good DEI Statements

At its core, a Diversity Statement is supposed to inspire action and create a sense of community within your organization. If your bookstore's DEI statement was originally adopted from a template, or modeled on another store or organization, it is worth taking another look at it and making it something that truly represents your store and your values.

Land Acknowledgments

"When we talk about land, land is part of who we are. It's a mixture of our blood, our past, our current, and our future. We carry our ancestors in us, and they're around us. As you all do."
– Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) via Native Governance

Of all the official American holidays on the calendar, Thanksgiving is one of the most emotional and intimate. Even though the holiday sometimes feels snowed under by newspaper inserts and Black Friday sales, the day itself has always been primarily about togetherness, family, and food.

And for the many Indigenous peoples of the continent, a day to mourn. One of the great tasks of anyone trying to live an anti-racist life is to acknowledge and reconcile (or discard) beloved cultural traditions that are built upon an oppressive, racist foundations.

How do we honor the values of Thanksgiving -- the togetherness and generosity and gratitude -- and yet still acknowledge what it represents to Indigenous people? We tend to associate Thanksgiving with a somewhat mythical story of Pilgrims and Native Americans sitting down to eat together, but the truth is Thanksgiving was first established as a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, as a kind of "thank you" to the advancing Union armies and a call for unity and healing among the American people.

There is a growing movement to "decolonize" Thanksgiving and turn it into something that more meaningfully honors the heritage of all the peoples on this continent. "Meaningful" is the watchword here. One practice that has become more common in recent years is to make a Land Acknowledgment part of important events and celebrations.

A Land Acknowledgment is a formal statement of recognition and respect for the indigenous peoples who were and are the traditional inhabitants and stewards of the specific place of the event. Organizations and groups also create Land Acknowledgments as part of the work they do in their communities. Independent bookstores sometimes create a Land Acknowledgment in recognition of their own role in and commitment to the heritage of their local communities.

A Land Acknowledgment (which is not, by the way, a "Land Welcome," the distinction is important) is not something to be simply copied from some template found online. Every one is unique because the history of every place is unique. There are over 550 Native American nations in the United States. Consider this map of the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples: https://native-land.ca/.

Bookstores looking to create a meaningful Land Acknowledgment for their store should take the time to research what and who should be acknowledged, and why. The Native Governance Center has published a useful guide to creating an Indigenous Land Acknowledgment statement that includes questions to ask yourself as you do your research: Why are you doing this land acknowledgment? What is your end goal?

The guide also offers some tips to writing a land acknowledgment statement that is truly meaningful and intentional. For example: be specific about the names and history of the Indigenous people to whom the land belonged and belongs -- including the history of the land itself and any treaties, honored or broken. And be scrupulous about correct spelling and pronunciation for the names of Tribes, places and peoples. Also include the names of living Indigenous peoples from the community. There is a tendency to talk about Indigenous peoples in the past tense. They are not. They are active, vibrant, contemporary cultures.

A Land Ackowledgment will not minimize or dismiss past crimes by avoiding accurate terms: genocide, forced removal, ethnic cleansing. But neither is it simply an accusation:

"Land acknowledgments shouldn't be grim. They should function as living celebrations of Indigenous communities. Ask yourself, 'How am I leaving Indigenous people in a stronger, more empowered place because of this land acknowledgment?' Focus on the positivity of who Indigenous people are today." --The Native Governance Center (via)

In the end, a Land Acknowledgment is a first step, an expression of gratitude to those who have been here long before us, and also a promise, a commitment to take action and effect change. It is a promise we can't break.

More resources
https://nativegov.org/resources/