Decolonizing with Humility and Empathy in Intercultural Community Services, International Webinar.

It is about decolonizing from mastery to accountability!

• Centre for Excellence on Empathy, Equity & diversity (CEEED)'s October Event o Decolonizing with Humility and Empathy in Intercultural Community Services, International Webinar. shifting power imbalances.  Oct. 27, 2022.  (proceedings @ YouTube).

• The congratulatory messages received for this event are very exciting and inspiring, as follows:

  
  

  To the attendees of Decolonizing with Humility and Empathy in Intercultural Community Services (Libraries, Archives, Museums, community agencies, etc.),

  
  

  We at the Archives Association of Ontario wish you a wonderful webinar!  I think this is very important work and this discussion on decolonization is so vitally important for the future of the field. Thank you for engaging in these very important topics. It is great that CEED is having international and interdisciplinary conversations about decolonization. warmly, Rachel E. Beattie, President, 2022-2023 | Archives Association of Ontario

  
  

  Congratulations on the creation of this wgoog_2033073592ide-ranging seminar on in the cultural sector.  Your chosen speakers and panelists and their proposed topics address serious questions and include an impressive diversity of disciplines and viewpoints.  I look forward to attending and to learning from your knowledgeable presenters.  All best, Gretchen Jennings, President, Empathetic Museum, Inc.

RESOLUTION PASSED in this Webinar:

WHEREAS, there are processes in place in the decolonization in many sectors focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).  However, such an approach is missing humility and empathy - so much necessary for the actual act of decolonizing.  

RESOLVED that The Centre for Excellence on Empathy, Equity & Diversity's 2023 New Year resolution is about a dire need to embed Humility and Empathy with EDI in all walks of the decolonization process.  And that each year request like-minded bodies to declare Empathy, Equity & Diversity Awareness Week on 13 - 19 November and thereby support all local observances pertaining thereto.

PS. This WEEK of November coincides with World Kindness Day; UNESCO's Day for Tolerance; Louis Riel Day a non-statutory (in Manitoba) holiday that occurs on November 16th across the Métis homelands; UKSG November Conference 2022 - diversity, equity and inclusion through multiple lenses; Fine Forgiveness Week is Nov. 13 - 21 Duncanville Public Library - City of Duncanville, Texas, USA; Antiracism & Decolonization in Archival Studies: Open Classroom Series, Wed, Nov 16, 2022 12:30 PM EST. November is Native American Heritage Month; Empathy Action Month; Indigenous Disability Awareness Month (re: Indigenous Disability Awareness Month November 2022, Proclamation, City of Toronto).

Oct 27 Program details 

• When: October 27 at 3:00 eastern/2:00 central/1:00 mountain/12:00 pacific (US times) / 8pm UK local /  8pm GMT / 9pm SAT / 7am NZST (Fri):  

   

  What:  Decolonizing with Humility and Empathy in Intercultural Community Services, International Webinar.  Summary: Starting a Conversation on Approaches to Decolonize:  from domination / mastery / control to accountability to shifting power imbalances.

  Outcome: Awareness to reduce/remove barriers, achieve greater understanding of community needs, and facilitate dissemination of issues/best practice/lessons learned with empathy, equity and diversity. [bios and other details: https://Conversation_to_Decolonize.eventbrite.ca]

• Facilitate the webinar (MC role): Michael Skaljin, Project - Stakeholder Engagement, Canadian Multifaith Federation; has served as Manager, Policy and Planning & Community Development Officer, City Of Toronto; Executive Director,  Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition, Toronto.

• Guest speakers 

  • Dr Spencer Lilley,  Associate Professor, School of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
  • Camille Callison, Tahltan Nation member, is the University Librarian at the University of the Fraser Valley, BC, (Canada)
  •  Hannah Ishmael, Collections and Research Manager at Black Cultural Archives, London (UK) 
  • Q&A

  Panelists 

  • Brandie Macdonald, Senior Director of Decolonizing Initiatives, Museum of Us, San Diego, CA. (USA)
  • Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, Museum Director, Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL. (USA)
  • Laurel Parson, Archivist, General Synod Archives,  Anglican Church of Canada, Toronto (Canada)
  • Sona Kazemi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of English, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. (USA).
    
  • Yasmine Benabdallah, currently a student in the critical praxis PhD program in Film and Digital Media at University of California Santa Cruz.
  • Q & A 

   

  Event's full details and a link to Register Please:  https://Conversation_to_Decolonize.eventbrite.ca

Quotes: 

 "To decolonize, we need curiosity, humility, and adaptability." www.facebook.com/TeachersTakeAction/

  Decolonization requires humility, courage, and compassion." Ernst, S. (2017). Indigenous sovereignty and settler amnesia: Robert Houle’s premises for self rule. RACAR: revue d'art canadienne/ Canadian Art Review, 42(2), 108-120. https://www.racar-racar.com/uploads/5/7/7/4/57749791/racar_42_2_9_ernst.pdf

"... decolonization and cultural humility are named as guiding principles of the new social studies instructional vision..."  Hopper, F (2021), Finding a Riverview: Anti-Racist Education, Decolonization, and the Development of a District-Wide Wabanaki Studies Curriculum.  Journal of School & Society  7(1) 47-56. http://www.johndeweysociety.org/the-journal-of-school-and-society/files/2021/03/4.pdf

"Lesson learned: Decolonization requires intellectual humility because it is full of many unknowns and is likely to entail many failures and mistakes." EDST Department Meeting: Thursday, May 19, 2022, 12:30PM ...  https://edst-educ.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2022/05/Dept-Meeting-agenda-for-May-19-2022.pdf

"Decolonizing is not meant to exclude. When we talk about decolonizing a syllabus, or our libraries, publishing houses, or our professions, what we are talking about is decentering whiteness, and being more inclusive to voices of color and to voices that represent diverse perspectives." source: READ MORE

Background and Research studies:

ALA Editions Special Report explores cultural humility as a component of DEI efforts... As relevant to those currently studying librarianship as it is to long-time professionals, and applicable across multiple settings including archives and museums. [ source]

"Decolonization is the process of deconstructing colonial ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches. On the one hand, decolonization involves dismantling structures that perpetuate the status quo and addressing unbalanced power dynamics. On the other hand, decolonization involves valuing and revitalizing Indigenous knowledge and approaches and weeding out settler biases or assumptions that have impacted Indigenous ways of being. For non-Indigenous people, decolonization is the process of examining your beliefs about Indigenous Peoples and culture by learning about yourself in relationship to the communities where you live and the people with whom you interact. " [[http://Decolonization is the process of deconstructing colonial ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches. On the one hand, decolonization involves dismantling structures that perpetuate the status quo and addressing unbalanced power dynamics. On the other hand, decolonization involves valuing and revitalizing Indigenous knowledge and approaches and weeding out settler biases or assumptions that have impacted Indigenous ways of being. For non-Indigenous people, decolonization is the process of examining your beliefs about Indigenous Peoples and culture by learning about yourself in relationship to the communities where you live and the people with whom you interact.]source]

"Decolonization starts and ends with addressing the dispossession of lands from Indigenous people in the U.S. and Canada. Colonized thought would want us to build and continue the differences between each of us to keep us apart. I believe true decolonization starts with the realization that colonization is fueled by a lack of empathy.

We can begin to dismantle the apparatus of colonization by incorporating empathy into the methods and strategies we use in design." [Studio: Indigenous Founder Chris Cornelius Is Decolonizing Architecture. source]

"The other element of cultural humility is that Western education and knowledge comes from a dominant position. The whole hierarchical structure of the Western world is structured in a way that one dominates another based on their education levels, or their cultural group. And that’s embedded within our paradigm of seeing the world. Cultural humility is a process through which we start to recognize that and counteract it. We need to unpack this as part of decolonization, and cultural humility gives us the tools to do that." [Psychology Month Profile: Dr. Stryker Calvez and Dr. David Danto, Indigenous Peoples’ Psychology [source]]

"7) Lesson learned: Decolonization requires intellectual humility because it is full of many unknowns and is likely to entail many failures and mistakes. Settler engagements with Indigenous knowledges also require intellectual humility, and a recognition that it is Indigenous peoples who are the rightful holders of Indigenous knowledges." [EDST Indigenous Strategic Plan Working Group Reflections on Our Process Thus Far. May 2022. source]

"We use as a working definition of community “a collectivity in a local setting whose members interact in many different ways that results in the mutual enhancement and sustainability of the collectivity and its constituents” (Stoecker, 2014)." [Workshop/Plenary Practicing Our Values: A Code of Ethics for Community Informatics Practitioners, by Martin Wolske; Kelvin White; Colin Rhinesmith. p. 177. source]

"Decolonizing is not meant to exclude. When we talk about decolonizing a syllabus, or our libraries, publishing houses, or our professions, what we are talking about is decentering whiteness, and being more inclusive to voices of color and to voices that represent diverse perspectives." What It Means to Decolonize the Library By Nicole A. Cooke | Dec 14, 2020. [www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/85127-what-it-means-to-decolonize-the-library.html] See also: "Metadata, Implicit Bias and Structural Inadequacies" [ Diverse Voices Research Strategies - Decolonizing the Library. Marianne Hebert https://library.potsdam.edu/DiverseVoicesResearchStrategies]

"Cultural humility involves providers engaging in a two-way conversation where both they and the client work together as partners in care... Engaging with First Nations from a place of cultural humility helps create an environment free of racism and discrimination, where people feel respected and safe when receiving health care, leading to greater access to care and improved health outcomes " [Cultural Safety and Humility - First Nations Health Authority. ] "... introduce(s) the idea of cultural humility, distinguish it from cultural competence, and argue that it has a role in librarianship." [Hurley, David A.; Sarah Kostelecky; and Lori Townsend. "Cultural Humility in Libraries." Reference Services Review , 4 (2019): 544-555. doi:10.1108/RSR-06-2019-0042. https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1135&context=ulls_fsp].

Decolonizing In Practice: "Library of Congress has recognized that some subject headings are problematic and has made efforts to correct them. For example, the old heading for Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945 seemed to imply that the incarceration of Japanese American citizens was for their own safety rather than the result of xenophobia" (Vaughan, "Language of Cataloging 10). The heading was recently changed to Japanese Americans--Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945 (LCSH). 

   What It Means to Decolonize the Library By Nicole A. Cooke | Dec 14, 2020. [www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/85127-what-it-means-to-decolonize-the-library.html] See also: "Metadata, Implicit Bias and Structural Inadequacies" [ Diverse Voices Research Strategies - Decolonizing the Library. Marianne Hebert https://library.potsdam.edu/DiverseVoicesResearchStrategies]