"George Chauncey, Historian of LGBTQ+ Life and Kluge Prize Recipient, Releases New Video Series “Through History to Equality”; Library of Congress, October 16, 2023

Library of Congress ; "George Chauncey, Historian of LGBTQ+ Life and Kluge Prize Recipient, Releases New Video Series “Through History to Equality”

George Chauncey, recipient of the 2022 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, released three videos today with the Library of Congress examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ Americans. These are now available to watch on loc.gov and the Library’s YouTube channel. 

In “From Sexual Regulation to Antigay Discrimination,” Chauncey is interviewed by Library of Congress Chief Communications Officer Roswell Encina on the history of how LGBTQ+ people in the United States were treated throughout the 20th century; the ways that their legal, social, and political treatment changed over the years; and the lives that people created for themselves in the shadow of discrimination.

In “Why Marriage Equality Became a Goal,” Chauncey interviews civil rights attorney Mary Bonauto, who has worked on the most significant legal cases dealing with marriage equality over the past 30 years. In this interview, Chauncey and Bonauto discuss the significance of the goal of marriage and why they think both the law and public opinion changed so rapidly as equality became the law of the land.

In “AIDS: A Tragedy and a Turning Point,” Chauncey convened a panel of experts to discuss the AIDS crisis that took the lives of a generation of gay people, including many who were writers and community leaders, even as it also set the stage for changes to come by prompting a new wave of activism and leading to an outpouring of LGBTQ+ people embracing their identities. In the discussion, Chauncey, Deborah Gould, Duane Cramer and Jafari Allen revisit the early history of AIDS and discuss the fear and loss as well as the action and assertiveness that came from that dark time."

“Keep on Pushing” Celebrating the life and career of E. J. Josey; American Libraries, June 27, 2020

Phil Morehart , American Libraries; “Keep on Pushing”

Celebrating the life and career of E. J. Josey

[Kip Currier: Uplifting article about the late E.J. Josey, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences and indefatigable champion for full inclusion of Black Americans during the tumultuous 1960's Civil Rights era and beyond. Dr. Josey was a consummate challenger of barriers to equality. His life and this article inform one of several capstone essays that graduate students in my inaugural LIS 2040: The Information Professional in Communities course are writing this month:

Reflection Essay 1: Breaking Down Barriers to Access by Communities

1. Barriers to information and resources are prevalent and persistent for many kinds of analog and digital communities. Read this 6/27/20 American Libraries article, “Keep On Pushing”: Celebrating the life and career of E.J. Josey. (see https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/keep-on-pushing/). The late E.J. Josey was a professor at Pitt’s School of Library and Information Sciences and was a “transformative force and leader” whose entire life was about breaking down barriers:

At the 1964 ALA Annual Conference in St. Louis, Josey “did something extraordinary” by putting forth a resolution to prevent the Association from working with Southern state library chapters that refused membership to Black librarians. “All hell broke loose,” said [Prof. Renate] Chancellor, quoting Josey, but the resolution passed.” https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/keep-on-pushing/

In a 750 – 1,000 word essay, identify and discuss at least one barrier that information professionals face in promoting access to information and resources for at least one specific community. Talk about at least one tangible strategy that you, as an information professional, can use to help to break down barriers and promote more access to information and resources for the community you identify. Cite at least one scholarly source in your essay.

Kip Currier (c) 2020]

[Excerpt]

"The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) honored the legacy of a trailblazing librarian—and celebrated its own 50th anniversary—at a live-streamed event at ALA Virtual June 26.

“E. J. Josey’s 1964 Charge: ‘Keep on Pushing’” charted the life of E. J. Josey (1924–2009), librarian, educator, author, activist, founding member of BCALA, and 1984–1985 American Library Association (ALA) president...

The session was moderated by Anthony Dunbar, librarian, sociology professor, and equity-diversity-inclusion consultant at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois. He began by asking speaker Renate Chancellor—associate professor in the Department of Library and Information Science at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and author of E. J. Josey: Transformational Leader of the Modern Library Profession (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020)—to briefly encapsulate Josey before they moved into the breadth of his work.

“He was a transformative force and leader,” Chancellor said. “A lot of younger librarians may not be aware of his contributions to the profession.”...

1964 was a pivotal year for Josey, Black librarians, and civil rights, Chancellor said. At the 1964 ALA Annual Conference in St. Louis, Josey “did something extraordinary” by putting forth a resolution to prevent the Association from working with Southern state library chapters that refused membership to Black librarians. “All hell broke loose,” said Chancellor, quoting Josey, but the resolution passed.

“Josey was so passionate about equal rights and equality,” Chancellor said, describing how those issues drove much of his life’s work, from working with the student chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People while employed at Savannah (Ga.) State College; cofounding BCALA in 1970; and eventually becoming ALA president in 1983. One of Josey’s strengths, Chancellor said, was his ability to see the bigger picture."

Fair and unfair algorithms: What to take into account when developing AI systems to fight COVID-19; JD Supra, April 17, 2020

Fabia Cairoli and Giangiacomo Olivi, JD Supra; Fair and unfair algorithms: What to take into account when developing AI systems to fight COVID-19

"The regulatory framework includes a number of sources from which to draw inspiration when developing AI technology. One of the most recent ones, the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence of the European Commission, is aimed at defining the risks associated with the implementation of AI systems, as well as determining the key features that should be implemented to ensure that data subjects’ rights are complied with (please see our articles The EU White Paper on Artificial Intelligence: the five requirements and Shaping EU regulations on Artificial Intelligence: the five improvements for a more detailed analysis).

It is worth noting that, particularly in relation to the development of AI technologies to fight the pandemic, the legislator is required to pay great attention to the principles and security systems. Risks associated to AI relate both to rights and technical functionalities. EU member states intending to use AI against COVID-19 will also need to ensure that any AI technology is ethical and is construed and operates in a safe way.

With regards to ethics, it is worth noting that the European Commission issued Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI in April 2019. Those guidelines stressed the need for AI systems to be lawful, ethical and robust (more particularly, AI should comply with all applicable laws and regulations, as well as ensure adherence to ethical principles / values and be designed in a way that does not cause unintentional harm).

With the aim of ensuring that fundamental rights are complied with, the legislator should consider whether an AI system will maintain respect for human dignity, equality, non-discrimination and solidarity. Some of these rights may be restricted for extraordinary and overriding reasons – such as fighting against a pandemic – but this should take place under specific legal provisions and only so far as is necessary to achieve the main purpose. Indeed, the use of tracking apps and systems that profile citizens in order to determine which ones may suffer from COVID-19 entails the risk that an individual’s freedom and democratic rights could be seriously restricted."

My column’s name does a disservice to the immigrants whose food I celebrate. So I’m dropping it.; The Washington Post, January 2, 2019

Tim Carman, The Washington Post; My column’s name does a disservice to the immigrants whose food I celebrate. So I’m dropping it.

"By writing about immigrant cuisines under a cheap-eats rubric, I have perpetuated the narrative that they should always be thought of as budget-priced...

Given this theory, I’ve had to ask myself uncomfortable questions, such as: Isn’t lumping certain cuisines under a cheap-eats banner only contributing to their low-class status? Am I not kneecapping, say, Central American cooks who toil in almost every kitchen in the District? Am I not telling these cooks that we, as Washingtonians, will never pay the same price for a Salvadoran, Guatemalan or Puerto Rican meal as we do for that plate of charred brassicas with mint chimichurri at the fancy New American restaurant where these immigrants are currently employed?...

By stripping this column of its previous name, I hope to remove at least one possible stigma about the restaurants that I decide to cover: that they are somehow “lesser” than the ones that might charge higher prices, have table service, offer a full bar or whatever confers prestige among diners. They are simply different in their approach. Many take just as much pride in their food as the chefs at the white-tablecloth restaurants do. I want to contribute to a society where it’s possible to esteem the high and low equally, each worthy of respect for what it does well."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: what sports have taught me about race in America; The Guardian, August 28, 2018

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, The Guardian;

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: what sports have taught me about race in America

"Athletes who speak out are proclaiming their loyalty to a constitution that demands equality and inclusiveness, not to the government officials who try to undermine those ideals by silencing its critics."

Hundreds mourn for Heather Heyer, killed during Nazi protest in Charlottesville; Washington Post, August 16, 2017

Ellie Silverman, Arelis R. Hernández and Steve Hendrix, Washington Post; Hundreds mourn for Heather Heyer, killed during Nazi protest in Charlottesville

"“Thank you for making the word ‘hate’ more real,” said her law office coworker Feda Khateeb-Wilson. “But...thank you for making the word ‘love’ even stronger.”

In a packed old theater in the center of the quiet college town that has become a racial battleground, those who knew Heyer turned her memorial into a call for both understanding and action.

“They tried to kill my child to shut her up, but guess what, you just magnified her,” said her mother Susan Bro, sparking a cheering ovation from the packed auditorium, where Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) were among the crowd.

“No father should ever have to do this,” said Mark Heyer, his voice breaking on a stage filled with flowers and images of the 32-year-old paralegal who was killed Saturday when a car plowed into a crowd of protestors gathered to oppose a white supremacist rally."

The Cruelty and Cynicism of Trump’s Transgender Ban; New Yorker, July 26, 2017

David Remnick, New Yorker; The Cruelty and Cynicism of Trump’s Transgender Ban: The President’s tweets are a naked attempt to divert attention from his scandals.

"Let’s begin with the retrograde cruelty. There are thousands of transgender people already serving among the 1.3 million active-duty members of the military. These are people who have volunteered their service and have potentially put their lives on the line, and yet their President, who managed to come up with a flimsy doctor’s note back in the day, denies them their dignity, their equality. He will not “accept or allow” them in the military. Imagine the scale of this insult...

It is implausible that Trump paid much attention to his highest-ranking generals, or to experts, generally; Secretary of Defense James Mattis has supported transgender individuals joining the military. And the hardly radical Rand Corporation has published an in-depth study refuting the idea that transgender soldiers are somehow expensive, or that they undermine the morale and cohesion of the military over all. Trump’s decision to bar transgender people from the military is pure politics, cheap and cruel politics, a naked attempt to divert attention from his woes, to hold on to support from his base—a base that he believes will cheer his latest attempt to do battle with the secular-humanist coastal élites who are so obsessed with identity politics. (One Administration official told Axios’s Jonathan Swan that the move was intended to force Democrats from Rust Belt states to take “complete ownership of this issue.”) In other words, it is a decision straight out of the Steve Bannon playbook. Cue the organs of the alt-right press.

Trump likes to declare what a “disaster” the military is, how deeply it has fallen into disrepair, and how he will be its salvation. When you begin to consider the meanness of what Trump has done, it is worth remembering him saying that he was “smarter” than the generals on military matters, and that he mocked John McCain’s service in Vietnam because “I like people who weren’t captured.” When you begin to think about the scale of this offense, it is worth remembering Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who lost a son in Iraq, addressing Trump directly from the lectern of the Democratic National Convention: “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”"

"The Rules Are Different Here"; Bizarro, May 2, 2017

Dan Piraro, Bizarro; "The Rules Are Different Here"

A Blind Theatergoer's 'Hamilton' Lawsuit Aims Spotlight On Broadway Accessibility; NPR, March 14, 2017

Jeff Lunden, NPR; 

A Blind Theatergoer's 'Hamilton' Lawsuit Aims Spotlight On Broadway Accessibility

""I think what this suit brings to light is that you have a hidden population out there that is not gaining the full access to Broadway," says attorney Scott Dinin, who is representing Lasser in the class-action suit against the show's producers and theater owner...

"Certainly once a show sets up a sustained run — and when we look at musicals that run five, 10, 15, 20 years — it really is a very small price to pay for opening up a show to a much, much wider audience," Sherman says.

That's really what Dinin, Lasser's attorney, is trying to say with this legal action. He is not seeking damages for his client — he can't, under the terms of the ADA. He is trying to make sure that theater becomes more inclusive, by spotlighting the problem, using Broadway's biggest hit.

"Audio description is so necessary," Dinin says. "It's the right thing to do. It's not that expensive. And it's just a thinking process. It's a mindset. We have to get a mindset: How do we increase inclusion? It should be top-of-mind. Equality, accommodation and respect. Because once people put that at the decision-making table, all the services will flow from that.""

Jared Kushner Considers Losing Democratic Friends “Exfoliation.” But What Kind of Exfoliation?; Slate, 11/23/16

L. V. Anderson, Slate; Jared Kushner Considers Losing Democratic Friends “Exfoliation.” But What Kind of Exfoliation? :

"Asked by Forbes’ Steven Bertoni about the friends who have cut ties with Kushner since he began advising the Trump campaign, Kushner sounded blasé. “I call it an exfoliation,” he replied. “Anyone who was willing to change a friendship or not do business because of who somebody supports in politics is not somebody who has a lot of character.”

Exfoliation is an apt choice of metaphor for Kushner, who was recently described by a journalist as having “an eerily flawless complexion.” Surely someone with such glowing skin has ample firsthand knowledge of removing dead surface cells to boost skin’s health and appearance. But Kushner’s metaphor raises more questions than it answers. If losing friends and associates who value equality, tolerance, and inclusion more than social climbing is akin to exfoliation, what kind of exfoliation is it?"

Son Of Immigrants Is First Openly Gay Man Elected To Georgia Legislature; Huffington Post, 11/10/16

Kimberly Yam, Huffington Post; Son Of Immigrants Is First Openly Gay Man Elected To Georgia Legislature:

"“The election of an openly gay man to the Georgia General Assembly represents just one more step on the road to full equality for LGBT people in Georgia,” Jeff Graham, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy organization Georgia Equality, said in a statement about the historic win...

The 31-year-old, whose campaign focused on economic growth and security, healthcare, and civil rights, explained that it was his mother’s cancer diagnosis in 2014 that impacted his decision to run for office.

“As I take my mom to her chemo appointment every two weeks, I am constantly reminded of the importance of health insurance. Access to healthcare is a matter of life or death,” Park wrote on his website. “Knowing this, based on my experiences and faith, I am compelled to run for public office to ensure all Georgians have access to healthcare by expanding Medicaid in Georgia.”"

The Mike Pence (Donald Trump) Assault On LGBTQ Equality Is Already Underway; Huffington Post, 11/13/16

Michangelo Signorile, Huffington Post; The Mike Pence (Donald Trump) Assault On LGBTQ Equality Is Already Underway:

"I’m not going to sugarcoat this at all. We are in for a full-blown assault on LGBTQ rights the likes of which many, particularly younger LGBTQ people, have not seen. Progress will most certainly be halted completely, likely rolled back. And it’s already underway...

If Trump is thus as hands-off on LGBTQ issues as president as he was at the RNC, letting people like Pence ― again, possibly the most powerful vice president ever ― get his way, along with people like Carson, Blackwell, Gingrich and likely many others, you can bet that the assault on LGBTQ rights is already underway. It’s only a matter of time before we know the full magnitude. And that’s why we must pull ourselves out of grief, get fired up, and begin the fight right now."

Full Transcript: President Obama’s Rally Speech for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland; Newsweek, 10/14/16

[Full Transcript] Michele Gorman, Newsweek; Full Transcript: President Obama’s Rally Speech for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland:

[Pres. Barack Obama] "Donald Trump’s closing argument is “What do you have to lose?” The answer is: Everything. All the progress we’ve made right now is on the ballot. Civility is on the ballot. Tolerance is on the ballot. Courtesy is on the ballot. Honesty is on the ballot. Equality is on the ballot. Kindness is on the ballot. (Applause.) All the progress we made that last eight years is on the ballot. Democracy itself is on the ballot right now.

So if you want to send a message, make it loud. Turn back the voices of cynicism. Turn back the voices of ignorance. Send a message of progress. Send a message of hope. Send a message by voting for Hillary Clinton, and show our kids and the rest of the world we remain the greatest country in the world."

Why ‘Star Trek’ was so important to Martin Luther King Jr.; Washington Post, 9/8/16

Elahe Izadi, Washington Post; Why ‘Star Trek’ was so important to Martin Luther King Jr. :

"Then, she broke the news to him that she was quitting the show. His smile faded, Nichols recalled later, as he firmly told the actress that she couldn’t leave “Star Trek.”

“He said, ‘Don’t you understand what this man [Roddenberry] has achieved? For the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing and dance, yes, but who can go into space, who can be lawyers and teachers, who can be professors — who are in this day, yet you don’t see it on television until now,'” Nichols recalled in a later interview.

He went on: “Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to see us. If you leave, that door can be closed. Because, you see, your role is not a black role, it’s not a female role. He can fill it with anything, including an alien.”...

Nichols stayed on the show, and said she never regretted that life-altering decision. She went on to help NASA recruit new astronaut candidates, many of whom were women and people of color."

How The U.S. Navy Named a Ship After Harvey Milk To Show Its LGBT Pride; Daily Beast, 8/20/16

Lizzie Crocker, Daily Beast; How The U.S. Navy Named a Ship After Harvey Milk To Show Its LGBT Pride:

"“It’s important to remember and honor naval heroes—sailors and marines who have sacrificed so much for America,” [Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus] said. “But it’s also important to recognize and honor those who have fought in a different way and sacrificed… those who have fought for the ideals that we cherish as a nation: justice, equality, and freedom.”

Under his leadership, the Navy has now created a new naming convention (in January, Mabus named the first ship in this new class of command replenishment vessels after John Lewis, the Georgian politician and civil rights activist).

“My uncle always told me that it poisoned the soul to have to lie about or hide who you were,” [Stuart Milk, Harvey’s nephew and leader of the Harvey Milk Foundation] said, recalling how his uncle gave him a book in 1972, Seven Arrows, about Native Americans when Stuart was 12 and not yet out of the closet.

“He told me that my authenticity and the fact that I felt different from everyone else was important, and he wrote in the front, ‘All of your differences are the medicine that the world needs, even when the world doesn’t recognize that.’ I think the USNS Harvey Milk can telegraph that message to the world.”"

Abraham Lincoln’s lesson for Trump: America’s at its best when we respect individual dignity; The Conversation via Salon, 7/8/16

Donald Nieman, The Conversation via Salon; Abraham Lincoln’s lesson for Trump: America’s at its best when we respect individual dignity:

"Lincoln believed that America’s commitment to equality and human dignity made it great. He criticized those who denied that the Declaration of Independence applied to African-Americans as “blowing out the moral lights around us.” In announcing his support for emancipation as president, he argued that it would preserve America’s role as “the last best hope of earth.”

If Trump wants to “make America great,” he can learn a lot from Lincoln. He can begin by following Lincoln’s example and appeal to “the better angels of our nature” rather than to fear. He should realize that we are at our best when we respect individual dignity, not when we stigmatize groups because of their race, sex, identity or religion.

Or he can join the Know Nothings. The party enjoyed a meteoric rise in 1854 but splintered over slavery and fizzled in the 1856 presidential election. Today, Lincoln is remembered for expanding our understanding of freedom and equality. In contrast, the Know Nothings’ appeal to fear and bigotry reminds us only of our worst instincts."