Can you believe it’s been over 3 years since the world shut down? March of 2020 feels like a lifetime ago! So much has happened since then! Some of it has been good, such as—
*massive BLM protests and conversations about institutions and their complicity in upholding white supremacy
*a wave of strikes and unionization that haven’t been seen in ages and the subsequent conversations about workers rights and their exploitation by said institutions/organizations
*in personal news, the start of my PhD journey at UIUC as well as signing my very first book to Seven Stories Press (out early 2024)!!!
However, a lot of it has been very bad. That doesn’t really need to be listed. But there have been very few days when the sun didn’t rise on yet more horror and trauma. Libraries are under attack from book censorship and banning; human rights are being stripped away like candy. And at least 3 wonderful Black women librarians whom I’ve known and loved have left this earth/gone to heaven. Not to mention that in more personal news, that my chronic kidney disease reached a point where I had to start dialysis, and am on the transplant list.*
So, yes, a lot has happened in these past three years. I say all this because some might wonder why it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. I’m still here! I am just taking things day by day.
COVID officially “ending” this month has prompted this bit of introspection, and so I wanted to say hello and check in. How are you? How are things going? COVID of course hasn’t ended for me, and seeing as even hospitals and medical offices are loosening their masking policies, it most likely never will. I can at least say that -knocks on wood- I have never gotten it, not even once, and I hope to continue that streak for as long as I can.
In any case, back to final projects I go! I hope that you all are hanging in there! It can be hard not to dwell on all the bad things going on in the world, and in libraryland. But, it’s important to remember to give yourself grace. We are all here on this beautiful planet, alive. That is something to celebrate! That is something in which we can all take pride.
I love you all. Happy National Library Week!
Fobazi
*I’m not quite ready to talk about this yet, but no my sister isn’t a match. And yes, I will make a post about how you can help me when the time is right.
WTF is a Radical Librarian, Anyway? 