A Seat at the Table: Reflections from eight ALA trailblazers; American Libraries, May 1, 2026

 Anne Ford , American Libraries; A Seat at the Table: Reflections from eight ALA trailblazers

"For 150 years, the American Library Association (ALA) has shaped the landscape of libraries and the profession itself—but its leadership has often reflected the racial and gender biases of society at large. For this special anniversary issue, American Libraries spoke with eight barrier-busting Association leaders about their struggles, triumphs, breakdowns, and breakthroughs. The stories and lessons they share reveal how diversity fuels and transforms the power of libraries everywhere."

Book bans and culture wars came for libraries. They’re still standing strong. ; The 19th, April 24, 2026

 Nadra Nittle , The 19th; Book bans and culture wars came for libraries. They’re still standing strong. 

During National Library Week, librarians throughout the country fight for books, jobs and truth.

"When students ask why books with LGBTQ+ themes need to be included in the collection, DeMaria tells them to consider the limited number of movies, books and other media that portray queer people. 

LGBTQ+ students “deserve that representation,” she said. “If it sits on the shelf because at that moment I don’t have a student who needs that mirror, that’s where it stays until I do.”"

Google Calendar removes Black History Month, Pride and other cultural events; The Guardian, February 11, 2025

Marina Dunbar, The Guardian; Google Calendar removes Black History Month, Pride and other cultural events

"Google’s online and mobile calendars are no longer including references to Black History Month, Women’s History Month and LGBTQ+ holidays, among other events.

The world’s biggest search engine previously marked the beginning of Black History Month in February and Pride Month in June, but the events do not appear for 2025.

The removal of the holidays was first reported by the Verge last week."

Voices of the People: The StoryCorps Archive; Library Journal, October 12, 2023

  Elisa Shoenberger , Library Journal; Voices of the People: The StoryCorps Archive 

"Since founder and president David Isay conceived of StoryCorps in 2003, the organization has recorded over 356,000 interviews with over 640,000 people in all 50 states, in over 50 languages, with the archive housed at the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress.

Over the past 20 years, the organization has worked tirelessly to collect and honor the oral histories of its participants while finding new ways of sharing their contributions to the world, including National Public Radio (NPR) broadcasts, animations, podcasts, and five bestselling books. According to StoryCorps’s most recent Annual Report, in 2021, the broadcasts featured on NPR Morning Edition reached 12 million listeners each week.

“We have a scale of recordings, stories, and first person accounts of historical events that is really unmatched,” said Virginia Millington, StoryCorps director of recording and archives. The archive contains stories recalling pivotal historical events that include World War II, the rise of Hip Hop, and 9/11, as well as personal stories of happiness and heartbreak.

In order to make sure that the diversity of experiences are represented, StoryCorps has developed several initiatives over the years to target particular parts of US society. For instance, there is the Military Voices Initiative, to collect interviews from veterans, military families, service members; another initiative works to honor the stories of LGBTQ+ in initiative StoryCorps OutLoud; while StoryCorps Griot collects the experiences of African Americans.

Other programs focus on Latinos, people working in the end of life care facilities (hospitals, palliative care), juvenile and adult justice system, refugees, immigrants and Muslim communities to name a few."

Stories Like Me defies book bans with store full of LGBTQ narratives for kids and teens; Pittsburgh City Paper, March 29, 2023

  Amanda Waltz, Pittsburgh City Paper ; Stories Like Me defies book bans with store full of LGBTQ narratives for kids and teens

[Kip Currier: I'm grateful to have been able to talk recently with Helen Campbell, the creator and owner of the groundbreaking independent bookstore Stories Like Me, located in Pittsburgh's Greenfield neighborhood, and to record a conversation with her for The Information Professional in Communities course I am finishing up for the Spring Term.

One of the questions I asked Helen was: 

What are some ways that you work to connect with and listen to the communities that are reflected in the books that you carry? 

Helen shared that while prepping for our chat she'd written -- in all caps -- the word LISTENING. Expanding on this, she emphasized that listening is key, learning from that listening, and then listening again, in an ongoing, iterative way, to better understand the needs of individuals, families, and communities.]

"Helen Campbell has strong feelings about the current effort to ban LGBTQ books from library shelves, as parenting groups and state legislatures have swept in to attack everything from youth-focused trans narratives to drag story times.

“When you remove the stories of our LGBTQIA+ individuals from the shelves of libraries and schools, you are making a statement to the queer community that your story doesn’t matter, you don’t exist here,” she tells Pittsburgh City Paper...

Of the book bans, Campbell says, “This is unconscionable and we, along with many other indie bookstores, are committed to keeping books on our shelves that will act as mirrors and windows for the queer community. We are a safe space, we are queer owned, and will stand against any attempts to erase the stories of marginalized people.”

The New Congress Has A Record Number Of Women — But Very Few Republican Women; NPR, January 3, 2019

Danielle Kurztleben, NPR; The New Congress Has A Record Number Of Women — But Very Few Republican Women

"Both parties also have different ideas about how important diversity is. One in 3 Republicans believe there are too few women in political office. In comparison, 8 in 10 Democrats think so, according to the Pew Research Center.

Walsh adds that pitching a candidate's gender as a positive factor is a tough sell in a party where "identity politics" is an insult.

"On the Republican side there is a real shunning of identity politics. In fact, when Paul Ryan became speaker, he thought that the number one reason that there was the kind of partisan gridlock in Washington was because of identity politics," she said. "So that makes it harder it makes it harder when you go out to raise money and make the case for why why do elect more women, if you can't talk about the substantive difference that they make by being there.""

'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Celebrates Inclusion; NPR, December 22, 2018

Chris Klimek, NPR; 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse' Celebrates Inclusion

"The animated film argues that movies are better if you open them up to everyone. The movie says, "Anyone can wear the mask," and indeed, multiple characters do, including Miles Morales, the first Afro-Latino Spidey."

Kelly Marie Tran: I Won’t Be Marginalized by Online Harassment; The New York Times, August 21, 2018

Kelly Marie Tran, The New York Times; Kelly Marie Tran: I Won’t Be Marginalized by Online Harassment

"Editors’ note: The actress deleted her Instagram posts this summer in response to online harassment. Here she speaks out for the first time...

"I want to live in a world where children of color don’t spend their entire adolescence wishing to be white. I want to live in a world where women are not subjected to scrutiny for their appearance, or their actions, or their general existence. I want to live in a world where people of all races, religions, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities are seen as what they have always been: human beings.

This is the world I want to live in. And this is the world that I will continue to work toward.

These are the thoughts that run through my head every time I pick up a script or a screenplay or a book. I know the opportunity given to me is rare. I know that I now belong to a small group of privileged people who get to tell stories for a living, stories that are heard and seen and digested by a world that for so long has tasted only one thing. I know how important that is. And I am not giving up.

You might know me as Kelly.

I am the first woman of color to have a leading role in a “Star Wars” movie.

I am the first Asian woman to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair.

My real name is Loan. And I am just getting started."

Iceman Came Out. Now He’s Coming Back in His Own Series.; The New York Times, June 28, 2018

George Gene Gustines, The New York Times; Iceman Came Out. Now He’s Coming Back in His Own Series.

"What is next for Iceman? 

I’m really excited that we’re coming back with a new No. 1. This is going to be a great way to invite readers to celebrate with us. Iceman is going to be thinking about how he can help other people and use his mutant power to be the best he can be. He’s going to be up against some pretty big bad guys. In the first issue he’s preventing the next “Mutant Massacre” with Bishop, another X-Man.

We’re also going to see a lot of the previous cast but played out in different ways. Bobby’s relationship with his parents will not be as fraught. He reached a level of peace that you can get to — even with parents like his. We’re going to see his dating life. It’s just going to be such a breath of fresh air to see him really stretch his arms out and have fun. 

You mentioned there would be some community outreach too. 

The reason I love X-Men books is that they speak so much to people who identify as other. We’re going to be seeing Bobby trying to figure out how he can be a shining beacon to the gay community. That’s where me and Bobby Drake are alike: How do you take this platform and try to do something meaningful? That’s something I want all readers to think about: How can you make a difference in your world? I feel super proud of the story I’ve crafted with all those things in mind."

Artist Tom Beland’s Heartfelt BLACK PANTHER piece becomes a variant cover; The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture, March 15, 2018

Taimur Dar, The Beat: The News Blog of Comics Culture; Artist Tom Beland’s Heartfelt BLACK PANTHER piece becomes a variant cover

[Kip Currier: I just chanced upon and got a copy of this moving Black Panther variant comic book cover by cartoonist Tom Beland, which Marvel Comics commissioned, following his original cartoon that went viral.
It's inspiring to see the diverse leadership roles that people can take to communicate messages and ideas that move individuals and societies forward in affirming ways.]

Black Panther variant comic book cover by cartoonist Tom Beland.
James "Kip" Currier (c) 2018

"As gratifying as it is to see Black Panther obliterating the myth that films with a predominately black cast can’t find mainstream success, perhaps its greatest achievement is the strong reaction among black girls and boys. If this 7-year old kid taking up the M’Baku challenge doesn’t melt your heart, then it’s probably made out of vibranium!

To say that Black Panther is a watershed moment for superhero films and representation is an understatement. Less than a week after Black Panther smashed box office records on opening weekend in February, cartoonist Tom Beland (True Story, Swear to God) drew this poignant piece. Despite taking Beland less than 15 minutes to draw, to his amazement it was shared over 10K times on social media!"

Marvel Comics editor-in-chief on company's diversity push, using a Japanese pen name; CBS News, June 2, 2018

CBS News; Marvel Comics editor-in-chief on company's diversity push, using a Japanese pen name

""We're 100 percent committed to diversity...Marvel is the world outside your window and we want not only our characters but our creative talent to reflect that world and it hasn't been an easy road to be honest with you. Going back to the 60s when Marvel were created it was created by a number of white men here in New York City who were working in our studio… But now, we do not have any artists that work in Marvel. All our writers and artists work -- are freelancers that live around the world so our talent base has diversified almost more quickly than our character base has."

One of the people in charge of making Marvel more inclusive is vice president of content and character development Sana Amanat. She created Kamala Khan -- Marvel's first Muslim superhero -- who helped sell more than half a million Ms. Marvel books to date."

Deadpool 2’s Dennison on Bringing Diverse Body Types to Superhero Genre; Comic Book Resources, May 25, 2018

Taylor Williams, Comic Book Resources; Deadpool 2’s Dennison on Bringing Diverse Body Types to Superhero Genre

"Following his breakout role in Taika Waititi’s 2016 comedy adventure Hunt for the Wilderpeople, New Zealand-born actor Julian Dennison has leaped to international stardom as Russell, aka Firefist, in Deadpool 2. The foul-mouthed, flame-throwing mutant is unlike any superhero movie audiences have seen before, both in temperament and physique. The latter is what excited the 15-year-old for the part, as other chubby kids can now see a hero who looks like them.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Dennison noted how special it was for him to be able to portray the character. “There isn’t just one kind of person that can play a superhero,” he said. “For me, playing a chubby or fat superhero was so special because I would go and watch these movies with my friends and would never see anyone like me. I am excited to be that for other kids who look like me.”"

Marvel’s Champions to Introduce Teenage Inuk Superhero, Snowguard; Comic Book Resources, April 26, 2018

Justin Carter, Comic Book Resources; Marvel’s Champions to Introduce Teenage Inuk Superhero, Snowguard

"For help with Amka’s development, Zub went to Nyla Innuksuk, founder of the VR production company Mixtape, who’s Inuit and grew up in Igloolik and Iqaluit. Innuksuk was initially hesitant upon learning about Zub’s plans to add an Inuit character, but said she appreciated that he came to her early in Snowguard’s development. She was also drawn to the character because she’s not another Indigenous woman portrayed as a victim. “To see a powerful young person who is fighting back against what she sees as wrong has the potential to make a real difference,” Innuksuk said."

The Iceman Cometh Out; New York Times. February 19, 2018

Stephanie Burt, New York Times; The Iceman Cometh Out

"Superhero comics address, and empower, straight white nerdy boys. That’s been true of most comics, for most of their history. But is it the genre’s central truth? For some of us, it never was. As Ramzi Fawaz, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has pointed out, superhero comics are the only popular genre in which anomalous bodies are not just tolerated but celebrated: The same thing that makes you look weird means you can save the world. Moreover, comics — because they involve stories of human (and superhuman) conflict and change; because they show hand-drawn pictures, with stylized faces; because they often appeal to us first in childhood — invite identification: We read them in search of ourselves, or our future selves.

These facts about comics explain — in part — why the X-Men became the most successful superhero franchise of the 1980s. Mutation, the source of X-powers, could stand, well or badly, for stigmatized real-world identities, as well as for the outsider status most kids, at some point, feel. The best X-books integrated real-world diversity too. Under Chris Claremont (who wrote many of them from 1975 to 1991) the core cast included a few women of color, one of them a virtual god, along with very strong hints of queer sexuality. More than almost any other gaudy bang-pow-pop cultural property, X-books offered — then and since — an imaginative space where L.G.B.T. readers could feel at home."

Watch This Jamaican Bobsledder’s Tearful Plea For Diversity At Winter Olympics; HuffPost, February 10, 2018

Ron Dicker, HuffPost; Watch This Jamaican Bobsledder’s Tearful Plea For Diversity At Winter Olympics

"Diversity is as good as gold, according to a member of the Jamaican Bobsled Team.

Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian told a Winter Olympics press conference in Pyeonchang, South Korea, on Saturday how important it was for children to see reflections of themselves in sport. 

It’s critical that “little girls and little boys see someone that looks like them, talks like them, has the same culture as them, has crazy, curly hair and wears a natural, has brown skin, included in different things in this world,” Fenlator-Victorian said, fighting tears. “When you grow up and you don’t see that, you feel that you can’t do it. And that is not right.”"

In 'Black Panther,' a superhero who finally looks like me; Washington Post, February 9, 2018

David Betancourt, Washington Post; In 'Black Panther,' a superhero who finally looks like me

""Black Panther" brings to life Marvel's greatest black superhero. For The Post's David Betancourt, this has been a long time coming."

Black Panther’s Shuri Is the Genius Movies Need Right Now; Comic Book Resources, January 27, 2018

Hannah Collins, Comic Book Resources; Black Panther’s Shuri Is the Genius Movies Need Right Now

"“As far as the technologically advanced side, in our mind, and in our incarnation, Shuri is the head of the Wakanda Design Group,” Moore explained of Shuri’s role during a Black Panther set visit. “She’s the smartest person in the world, smarter than Tony Stark, but she’s a 16-year-old girl, which we thought was really interesting. Again, black faces in positions of power or positions of technological know-how, that’s a rarity. So it’s something that’s a big part of the film.”

There are plenty of strong, smart black women in superhero comics — Storm, Spectrum, Amanda Waller and Misty Knight, for starters — but super-intelligent ones who can rival the genre’s heaviest intellectual hitters are few and far between. That isn’t a problem exclusive to comics, though. When we think of a stereotypical genius in any medium — comics, prose, television, film — we tend to envision a white man. Upon further deliberation, we might conjure a white woman, or a black man. But a black woman? While superhero comics aren’t solely to blame for that, it doesn’t mean the industry can shirk the responsibility of tackling the problem, especially when the likes of Marvel and DC Comics wield such mighty cultural influence at the moment. In fact, Marvel has made a pointed effort to rectify that disproportion in recent years with the introduction of Riri Williams and Moon Girl, the latter of whom now holds the title of smartest person in the Marvel Comics universe; Letitia Wright’s Shuri will ascend to that throne in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when Black Panther premieres next month."

Black Mirror star Aldis Hodge paints a portrait of divided America; Guardian, January 20, 2018

Lucy Rock, Guardian; 

Black Mirror star Aldis Hodge paints a portrait of divided America

"Despite Hollywood’s increasing awareness of diversity issues, a University of Southern California study published last summer of 900 popular films from 2007 to 2016 showed that almost nothing had changed in terms of representation on screen around gender, race, LGBTQ status and disability. The pool of directors proved even less diverse.

Hodge said people should think about inclusion rather than diversity, which “has been turned into a diminutive tool that is regressive”.

“They say, ‘We need some diversity – throw a black guy in there, or a Latin girl.’ They still don’t look at these people as normal. They don’t understand the normalcy of walking around America and seeing all folk integrating naturally.”"

Guess Who’s Coming to ‘Peanuts’; New York Times, January 13, 2018

David Kamp, New York Times; Guess Who’s Coming to ‘Peanuts’

"For Barbara Brandon-Croft, who in 1991 became the first African-American woman to have a nationally syndicated comic strip in the mainstream press, “Where I’m Coming From,” the simple fact of Franklin’s addition to the mix was downright exhilarating. Ms. Brandon-Croft was 10 years old in 1968, and she told me: “I remember feeling affirmed by seeing Franklin in ‘Peanuts.’ ‘There’s a little black kid! Thank goodness! We do matter.’”"

How a man’s first-ever tweet, about Obama’s respect, proved more popular than Trump’s bluster; Washington Post, January 14, 2018

Avi Selk, Washington Post; How a man’s first-ever tweet, about Obama’s respect, proved more popular than Trump’s bluster

"“My Korean-born-and-raised parents both came to America as young adults, knowing a bare minimum of English, having a handful of family to rely on, and coping with a true culture shock,” Lee once wrote. One generation later, their son had a bachelor's degree in political science and was working for the president.

And even if not many outside the White House knew who Lee was when he left the staff in 2011, Obama did."