There is a lot to be said about the unqualified people heading government departments they plan to dismantle, and the friends I have who are in treatment for breast cancer and facing their deaths when they lose ACA coverage, and the outright lies about the education system being "flush with cash", and about environmental regulations being lifted so that we can drill and frack the country into ruin, and about bathroom bills and attacks on women's health services and threats against immigrants and SO MANY OTHER THINGS.
But.
I have a very clear duty and function as a children's librarian. I protect access to information. I teach children pre-reading skills. I read them stories that nurture curiosity and empathy. I organize programs and displays on civil rights, black history, women's history, censorship, other cultures. Only 4% of Hawaii is white, the rest are Pacific Islander or immigrants from the Philippines, Japan, and Southeast Asia. If I am asked as a "patriot" to report my storytime families as immigrants or muslims, I will not be doing that. I will not be providing information about the library books they read or the subjects they study. I will not be refusing service to people of particular descents or dress or gender. I will not stop buying books that depict marginalized people or scientific inquiry or "unpatriotic content". My lines in the sand are drawn. So if I don't say a lot about this mess as we head forward, it is not because I don't see it, but because I have my hands in it, and I want to keep them there as long as I can.
So today, we marched.
And then we went to Gordon Biersch and had a beer, because it's important to appreciate the good things while you have them. Like healthcare, and a paycheck, and microbrew beer overlooking the ocean.
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