Palestine

A reflection on censorship, intellectual freedom, and disinformation.

Since October 7, Gaza has been undergoing a genocide at the hands of Israel, and its supporters. Simultaneously, the West consumes and perpetuates an onslaught of propaganda and disinformation about Palestine, in service of Israel’s Zionist agenda. People who advocate for Palestine are being fired, doxxed and face other censorship challenges. Librarians, archivists and other information workers must make sense of our role in the fight against these attacks.

In collaboration with Ph.D. candidate Alia Reza, and Librarians and Archivists with Palestine (LAP), up//root surveyed LAP-affiliated information professionals on censorship, intellectual freedom and disinformation as it relates to the genocide in Gaza. The full reflection features a personal essay by Reza and survey responses which highlight real life perspectives and experiences.

Featured
Survey Responses: Disinformation
Survey Responses: Disinformation

Librarians and Archivists with Palestine members speak on how misinformation and disinformation about Palestine is perpetuated by the media and information institutions they work for.

Survey Responses: Censorship + Intellectual Freedom
Survey Responses: Censorship + Intellectual Freedom

Librarians and Archivists with Palestine members speak about their experiences with censorship and intellectual freedom challenges regarding Palestine.

“Information workers have an obligation
to care.”

- Anonymous, archivist

up//root is a community + publishing platform amplifying and connecting critical voices in libraries, archives + cultural heritage

Introducing…

Q&A

Real conversations about

critical information topics

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@unboundlibrarian on white supremacy, the professionalism myth + OnlyFans
@unboundlibrarian on white supremacy, the professionalism myth + OnlyFans
Kristi from San Quentin Library Friends on prison libraries + community volunteering
Kristi from San Quentin Library Friends on prison libraries + community volunteering

HOME:

an exploration of being & belonging in resistance

A multi-genre collection of essays, personal narratives, and multimedia from 12 library and archive workers from across the world.

Featured
loving on bell: an altar
nicholae cline, Collection, bell series
loving on bell: an altar
nicholae cline, Collection, bell series

Across the spring and summer months of 2022, participants in Community Study gathered together to honor the work and memory of our beloved ancestor bell hooks. In this series, we reflect on and pay homage to our time together, exploring what bell and these gatherings meant to each of us. This brief introduction and expression of gratitude by nicholae cline contextualizes the pieces in this series, highlighting some of the threads that bind these reflections together.

nicholae cline, Collection, bell series
features
I Remember the Listening
Rebekah McFarland, Collection, bell series
I Remember the Listening
Rebekah McFarland, Collection, bell series

Rebekah reflects on her agency from her childhood to the present, the impact the community had on them over the course of the Community Study, and their thoughts on participating in academia.

Rebekah McFarland, Collection, bell series
Permission to Unpack
Jennifer Price, bell series, Collection
Permission to Unpack
Jennifer Price, bell series, Collection

This piece considers how, as Bone Black affirms, the construction or reconstruction of memory is a necessary recourse for healing and creative release.

Jennifer Price, bell series, Collection
Can’t We All Just Cathect Along?
Brittani Sterling, bell series
Can’t We All Just Cathect Along?
Brittani Sterling, bell series

We all engage with cathexis but we often conflate it with respect, positive conditional regard, and, most dangerously, love.

Brittani Sterling, bell series
How do you declare love is boundless on a billboard with such stark edges?
jaime ding, bell series, Collection
How do you declare love is boundless on a billboard with such stark edges?
jaime ding, bell series, Collection

A personal reflection on how jaime ding has been thinking about the limits of love, and the unlearning of such restraints.

jaime ding, bell series, Collection
Featured
The House Archives Built
Dorothy Berry
The House Archives Built
Dorothy Berry

The current trend focusing on liberating the concept of archives from physical institutions has served to mentally leave behind Black collections held in predominantly white institutions. Dorothy Berry reflects on the conflict of archives versus the archives, and how the fundamental structures of archives can disserve Black archival subjects by foregrounding ownership, collecting, and homogeneity.

Dorothy Berry

up//root awarded five library + archive workers each a $500 Community Award. Read their thoughts on community, care and knowledge production.