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Join UC Libraries in reading and discussing “The Sum of Us”

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sum of us

UC Libraries’ RESPECT (Racial Equity Support Programming to Educate the Community Team) is hosting a book club featuring “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We can Prosper Together” by Heather McGhee starting in January ’24 with monthly online discussions concluding with in an in-person talk in April.

The first 50 people to request a book will receive a physical copy.

In “The Sum of Us:”McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm—the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country—from parks and pools to functioning schools—have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world’s advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.

Penguin random house

Beginning in January, the book club will meet via Zoom to discuss the text over a series of three Fridays from 10:00-11:00am, January 26, February 23 and March 22. These meetings will culminate in a final wrap-up discussion on Friday, April 5 in-person and facilitated by Sinclair Community College’s Chief Diversity Officer Michael Carter. 

To sign up to participate and be sent more information, fill out this form. The first 50 people to request a book will receive a physical copy. Physical copies and ebook access are also available to check out through UC Libraries. For any additional questions, e-mail Nimisha Bhat at nimisha.bhat@uc.edu.

Unmasked: Black Heroes in Comics Exhibit, November 6-December 8

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The University of Cincinnati Libraries is hosting the traveling exhibit “Unmasked: Black Heroes in Comics.” On display on the fourth floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library through December 8, the exhibit was curated by the National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center and on loan from the Ohio History Center.

exhibit

The museum describes the exhibit as:

Unit 1 of the exhibit starts in the 1930s with the legendary Jackie Ormes, the first Black woman cartoonist. It, and other panels featuring creators includes photos of the artist and examples of their work. Comics highlighted include, All-Negro Comics (1947), the first all-Black created comic book, Ohioan Jay Jackson, who arguably created the first Black superhero ever and Gene Bilbrew, who only recently has had his story revisited. The last panel goes into detail about the current controversy around the first Black superhero and where the research is currently pointing.

Unit 2 covers comics that impacted the Civil Rights Movement and then highlights Black creators entering the mainstream at Marvel and DC. It starts with Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story and Youth in the Ghetto and the Blueprint for Change, two of the rarest comics related to the topic. Billy Graham, the first Black artist at Marvel is covered, along with Trevor Von Eeden, the first Black artist at DC Comics. The display ends with Black Women in Comics and the growing independent comics movement.

exhibit images

For more…

Attend the panel “From the Page to the Public Arena: How Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Superheroes shape the American Experience” on Thursday, Nov. 9, 4pm, Digital Resource Commons in the Walter C. Langsam Library.

unmasked panel fyer

The traveling exhibit and corresponding events, is co-sponsored by Central State University and the University of Cincinnati: Academy of Fellows for Teaching and Learning, African American Cultural & Resource Center, Center for Studies in Jewish Education and Culture, Charles Phelps Taft Research Center, College of Arts & Sciences, College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology, Department of Africana Studies, Department of History, Department of Sociology, Office of the Provost, University Honors Program and the University of Cincinnati Libraries.

Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

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Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

In this issue of Source, Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian, writes about Creating a shared vision for UC Libraries, and in an interview we learn more about her professional background, immediate goals for the new position and her early impressions of UC Libraries, as well as how she is having fun exploring Cincinnati.

We learn how Mikaila Corday did investigative work to catalog Japanese design books and the Digital Collections Team provides tips on how to digitize your home collections like a pro. We celebrate the return of the She-Wolf (Lupa) statue to Cincinnati and a new book published by the University of Cincinnati Press that focuses on the challenge for non-profits. We recap two recent events held in the Libraries: the Generational Summit and the Data & Poetry / Poetry & Data workshop.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the website. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.

Tiffany Grant Awarded the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty

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tiffany grantTiffany Grant, PhD, assistant director for research and informatics and co-director of the University of Cincinnati Libraries Research and Data Services Unit, in a ceremony held April 4, was honored to receive the 2023 Marian Spencer Equity Ambassador Award for Faculty. Named for the celebrated civil rights activist, this award is designed to showcase current campus-affiliated individuals and groups whose efforts relate to diversity, equity and inclusion and who have had a positive impact on the university.

Nominated by her colleagues, Tiffany was commended for her commitment to promoting awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion; exhibiting sensitivity to people of various cultures; facilitating growth among colleagues and peers; preparing students, faculty and staff to thrive in a diverse and global workforce; and collaborating with colleagues to create and implement initiatives and policies that build an equitable and inclusive environment. One nominator wrote of Tiffany that she, “embodies the spirit and dedication to spreading awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in all her work at the University of Cincinnati.” Continue reading →

OhioLINK DEI e-books now available

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Thanks to the State Library of Ohio awarding OhioLINK the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) grant funded by IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services), we now have access to ‘Phase 1’ of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion electronic book collection (see complete Excel list)  . OhioLINK’s goal was to bring better representation of diverse communities and perspectives to the library collections.  Through the ProQuest platform’s curated librarian-selected collection that covers various subjects with diversity and representation in race, gender, religion, physical ability, age, political persuasion, and sexual orientation, that goal was met.

This dynamic digitally shared collection allows all OhioLINK member libraries to have an unlimited number of users and perpetual access to all 82 e-books.  Books can be accessed through a search in the UC Library Catalog or by following the directions below.  Check it out!

DEI ebooks

Love Data Week Day 5 – Data: Agent of Change or Perpetuating the Cycle? 

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Data: Agent of Change or Perpetuating the Cycle? 

By Tiffany Grant, PhD, CDE® 

Data for Black Lives 

Data can be a powerful tool for informing decisions and effecting change. But, what happens when data is used to create and perpetuate discriminatory practices? Taken directly from the Data for Black Lives website:  

“History tells a different story, one in which data is too often wielded as an instrument of oppression, reinforcing inequality and perpetuating injustice. Redlining was a data-driven enterprise that resulted in the systematic exclusion of Black communities from key financial services. More recent trends like predictive policing, risk-based sentencing, and predatory lending are troubling variations on the same theme.” 

Data for Black Lives is a movement of activists, organizers, and scientists committed to the mission of using data to create concrete and measurable change in the lives of Black people. The organization is comprised of 20,000 scientists and activists who endeavor to change the narrative and create racial justice by challenging discriminatory uses of data and algorithms across systems. The D4BL movement works to use data and technology as instruments to foster good in the Black community.  

 

Fatal Force Washington Post Database (1)

Did you know that 1,112 people have been shot and killed by police in the past 12 months? The Washington Post has tracked 8,229 fatal police shootings since 2015, and the data are available here. Ongoing analysis by the Post has shown that police shoot and kill more than 1,000 people each year. In 2015, the post began to log data behind each shooting by an on duty police officer. The data tells striking and alarming stories.  

  • Black Americans are killed at a much higher rate than White Americans (black Americans are killed at twice rate of white Americans). 
  • Most victims are young (20-40 years old). 

The database can be mined using several filters. The filters include: 

  • City and State 
  • Age 
  • Gender 
  • Race 
  • Year of shooting 
  • Victims Name 
  • Year of Shooting 
  • Fleeing scene 
  • Armed vs unarmed 

Why is this data significant? “The FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention log fatal shootings by police, but officials acknowledge that their data is incomplete. Since 2015, The Post has documented more than twice as many fatal shootings by police as recorded on average annually by these agencies. The Post’s database is updated regularly as fatal shootings are reported and as facts emerge about individual cases. The Post seeks to make the database as comprehensive as possible (1)”. 

 References 

  1. Police shootings database 2015-2023: Search by race, age, department. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2022/police-shootings-database-2015-2022-search-by-race-age-department/.

 

 

Langsam Library exhibits installed in honor of Black History Month pay tribute to trailblazers and display the enormous loss in the Middle Passage

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On display in the Walter C. Langsam Library are two new exhibits created and installed for Black History Month. The first pays tribute to Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers – Lucy Oxley and O’dell Owens. The second exhibit displays the enormous loss of life in The Middle Passage.

Cincinnati African American Medical Trailblazers

On display on the 4th floor lobby of Langsam Library, this exhibit features materials from the collections of UC Libraries about Lucy Oxley, MD, the first person of color to receive a medical degree from the UC College of Medicine, and O’dell Owens, renowned physician, former Hamilton County coroner and the first African American to sit on the board of the University of Cincinnati.

cincinnati african american medical trailblazers

The Middle Passage

On the 5th floor lobby of Langsam Library is a large map depicting the Middle Passage, which commonly refers to the experience of enslaved African people as they traveled across the Atlantic Basin to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade. Illness, insanity, hunger, dehydration, torture, revolt, suicide and ship wreck led to the death of ~1.8 million Africans at sea during their Middle Passage.

The exhibit corresponds with the Uncommon Read of the book “Slavery at Sea: Terror, Sex, and Sickness in the Middle Passage” by Sowande’ M. Mustakeem. A Lunch and Learn with the author is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23 from 12:30-2pm in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library’s Stanley J. Lucas M.D. Boardroom (E005HA). Register to attend the Lunch and Learn.

the middle passage graphic

Both exhibits were curated by UC Libraries faculty and staff: Meshia Anderson, Susan Banoun, Sidney Gao, Tiffany Grant, Gino Pasi and June Taylor-Slaughter. It was designed by UC Libraries communications design co-op Jakob Elliott.

Love Data Week Day 4 – The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey 

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A graphic for love data WeekThe 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey 

By Tiffany Grant, PhD, CDE® 

Much of what is included in this post is taken from the Executive Summary (1), which is extremely revealing and detailed regarding the survey and its findings. 

 The U.S Transgender Survey (USTS) was conducted in the summer of 2015 by the National Center for Transgender Equality. It was an anonymous, online survey for transgender adults (18 and older) in the United States that was made available in English and Spanish. It is the largest survey examining the experiences of transgender people in the United States, with 27,715 respondents from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. military bases overseas. The survey was a follow up to the 2008–09 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, which helped to shift how the public and policymakers view the lives of transgender people and the challenges they face. The USTS provided detailed evidence and experiences shared by transgender people from a range of categories including education, employment, family life, health, housing, and interactions with the criminal justice system.  

Survey findings reveal disturbing patterns of mistreatment and discrimination and startling disparities between transgender people in the survey and the U.S. population when it comes to the most basic elements of life, such as finding a job, having a place to live, accessing medical care, and enjoying the support of family and community. Respondents experienced harassment and violence at alarmingly high rates. The findings reveled that mistreatment, harassment, and violence were pervasive in the lives of transgender people and was present in every aspect of their lives. Over half the respondents had been verbally assaulted, nearly a quarter of them had been physically assaulted, and 13% reported sexual assaults all as result of being transgender1. Nearly 1/3 of individuals reported being fired, denied a promotion, or experiencing some other form of mistreatment in the workplace due to their gender identity or expression. This has led to poverty rates that are more than double than the US average among the transgender community. “Among the starkest findings is that 40% of respondents have attempted suicide in their lifetime—nearly nine times the attempted suicide rate in the U.S. population (4.6%) (1)”.  

The survey data also reveals disturbing higher disparities among transgender people who have disabilities, are of color, and who are disabled. These include higher rates of unemployment, poverty, discrimination, health disparities, violence and suicide. The reports also reveal some glimmers of hope. The survey found that 4x more people responded to the survey than the previous National Transgender Discrimination Survey, suggesting that more were willing to use their voices to impact potential changes. The survey also revealed more acceptance of transgender status among families and friends of those who identify in this way.  

ICPSR has the data collected from the survey and information regarding the survey instrument and topics incuded2. The following information was taken directly from the ICPSR site for the USTS.  

“The survey instrument had thirty-two sections that covered a broad array of topics, including questions related to the following topics (in alphabetical order): accessing restrooms; airport security; civic participation; counseling; family and peer support; health and health insurance; HIV; housing and homelessness; identity documents; immigration; intimate partner violence; military service; police and incarceration; policy priorities; public accommodations; sex work; sexual assault; substance use; suicidal thoughts and behaviors; unequal treatment, harassment, and physical attack; and voting. 

Demographic information includes age, racial and ethnic identity, sex assigned at birth, gender and preferred pronouns, sexual orientation, language(s) spoken at home, education, employment, income, religion/spirituality, and marital status (2).” 

For more information or to access the data, please refer to this link. 

References 

(1) 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey Report. 2022 U.S. Trans Survey. https://www.ustranssurvey.org/reports (accessed 2023-02-09). 

(2) James, S. E.; Herman, J.; Keisling, M.; Mottet, L.; Anafi, M. 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS): Version 1, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37229.V1. 

 

Love Data Week 2023 Day 3 – Using Geospatial Data to inform Change

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A graphic for love data Week

 

 

Using Geospatial Data to Inform Change

By Amy Koshoffer

When trying to understand the complexity of our modern society, looking through a geospatial lens can give more insight and lead to possible solutions for complicated challenges such as poverty, healthcare disparities, systemic racism and climate change.  This means we need to examine the “where” as an attribute when we want to bring about changes that matter. We can address questions that include where do people live in relation to industry, healthcare facilities, green spaces and other resources as well as where they live relative to risks such as sea level rise.  Combining location with population demographics can help us delve into these issues to understand if issues impact one group of our society more than another.

Esri is the industry leader for Geographic Information Software and has resources such as data with spatial attributes and tools that help us address our society’s most challenging issues.  Esri has made significant changes to their higher education support which greatly improves our ability to explore research questions through the geospatial lens. Below are some of the tools we have access to here at UC as well as information about the new updates: Continue reading →

Love Data Week 2023 Day 2 – Open Data, Scientific anti-racism, and the Father of American Anthropology 

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A graphic for love data Week

Franz Boas’s Immigrant Study 

Open Data, Scientific anti-racism, and the Father of American Anthropology 

Tiffany Grant, PhD, CDE® 

 Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist who’s work has had him dubbed the “Father of American Anthropology”. In his obituary, published in Science it is written that:  

“Boas’ emphasis on obtaining accurate, detailed knowledge, both intensive and extensive, not only raised the standards of anthropology; it changed its methodology and problems. In phrasing these problems and in insisting that relevant data be used in answering them systematically, he was a great pioneer who led the way into new fields of investigation. He found anthropology a collection of wild guesses and a happy hunting ground for the romantic lover of primitive things; he left it a discipline in which theories could be tested and in which he had delimited possibilities from impossibilities” (1). 

Born in Germany in 1858, Boas immigrated to the  United States in 18962. While in Germany, Boas was exposed to both the human and natural sciences (2), thus the asking and answering of questions based on evidence was a crucial part of the methodologies he instigated in the field of anthropology. Boaz challenged the reigning notions of race during his time and taught his students to do the same (3). During his time, Boas made many enemies as he professed a belief that was antithetical to the notion that culture was something that evolved within societies by stages from lower forms to higher (2). During a time when scientific racism was rampant with many proponents ascribing to the evolutional classification of races, Boas was strongly opposed to the idea that one’s own culture or “race” was superior to others and asserted that this view was not only wrong, but also harmful (3). While scientists and anthropologists believed race to be a biological characteristic that could explain human behavior, Boas’ set out to prove through scientific means that this was faulty thinking.   Continue reading →