ACRL 2013 Conference Notes: Closing Keynote with Maria Hinojosa

ACRL Closing Keynote
Speaker: Maria Hinojosa.
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2013, 11:00am

• (With this post, I conclude the series of notes from the ACRL 2013 Conference. Will I make it to Portland in two years? Maybe. In the meantime, thanks to my four readers for stopping by, and read on)
• The American Dream does not exist anymore. (Ok, that's it, we are done. That is all folks. On a serious note, actually, I do agree with this idea. All we have to do is look around). 
• What happens when stories that are baseless are repeated? 
• The narrative is changing. Latinos do not see ourselves as a minority anymore, nor whites see us that way. Conversation and change are happening to change the narrative. Changing the narrative is the first step to owning the voice and transforming democracy. 
• Democracy matters to us all. 
• We librarians are the first line of defense. (Another thing I have often said, and I hope I am not alone in believing that)
• We need to build bridges of trust. Salvation lays in the binding of America. 
• Librarians are role models, so we are responsible to be accessible to those who need us. 
• "Eat your fear, put honey in your tongue, then swallow." In asking questions, take control. How do the questions you ask get others to tell their stories?
•  New immigrants are the America waking up, feeling out of place, so we need to care. 
• Hinojosa recommends reading Sonia Sotomayor's new book. (She did not specify which one, so I am guessing it is Sotomayor's memoir My Beloved World.) 
• Hinojosa strives to create safe spaces, in her classrooms and in her work, so people can tell their stories. This is about seeing beyond what we usually see. 
• If you see injustice, say something. If you see injustice, say and do something. 
• Understand that what we do and our stories have power. 
• For Latinos, stuck in the "US Mambo = 3 steps forward, 2 steps back." We are a big market, yet we get our books banned; we get discriminated against. In Arizona, librotraficante comes as a democratic reply, the book smuggler.
• Latinos in the front line of democratic excesses, of a challenge to democracy. We need access to information, knowing our rights and engaging in democracy and society. We librarians serve as an example to Latinos and others. 
• Latino youths need us to see them, and to see we fight for them. They need us librarians. 
• There can be happiness in seeing each other, in seeing ourselves in others' eyes. This is the work we do.