Special Report: Nuestra Comunidad: Themes and Shared Experiences in a Latinx Librarian Cohort, Part III
by Aidy Weeks, Ruby Nugent, & Mayra Corn
Photo by Unsplash
Themes
Cultural Dissonance in Professional Environments
Working in a professional environment presents contradictions to cultural norms rooted in the Latinx culture. Latinx culture celebrates collective successes, emotional expressiveness, and selfless humility. Latinx individuals are raised to work in order to benefit the societal, collective good. We come from a luchista (striver) mentality that believes in advancing forth together. With phrases such as “Si se puede” embedded into our history, derived from our leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, who led our Latinx equal rights movement on a foundation of self-sacrifice for the greater good.
Professional cultures are known for encouraging individualistic accomplishments, performing empirically and free of emotion, and promoting environments of self-advancement. In professional workspaces self-promotion can be a welcomed attribute, as it serves as a means for advocacy. Doing so can bring awareness to the field and to your work and oftentimes, it is this exposure that is necessary to promote or move up to the next position.
As Latinx individuals, we grow up in a culture that is ingrained with opposing viewpoints from the office mindset. There is a struggle to share what work culture is like at home, and vice versa; it is difficult to open up at work to share what our at-home norms are. In these moments, our comfort levels are pushed as our emotional support network experiences detachment. As we position ourselves to flourish in professional work environments, we experience isolation as work without the support networks we are raised to cultivate and rely on. Further, there is an underlying discomfort in self-promotion and in flaunting our achievements as Latinx culture places value on the importance of humility. Growing up, our families and caregivers urge us to strive high to supersede our circumstances but that we must never forget where we come from, as to not betray our roots. We are raised to be hard-workers and high achievers who remain humilde (humble) above our successes.
Understanding this cultural dissonance, we find ourselves experiencing feelings of imbalance while working in a professional institution. It is a situation where we carefully engage in a balancing act of preserving our cultural upbringing while paving the way for career advancement. This shared experience among Latinx librarians is an opportunity to assist one another in developing coping strategies and allows us to rebalance our converging cultural and professional experiences.
Self-Care and the Nature of Being Latinx
When we talk about “self-care” we are talking about the preservation of ourselves – mind, body, and soul. But for Latinx librarians, it is multi-faceted. Particularly in work environments which challenge personal ethics, practices, and values, people of color have to work extra hard to persevere while self-preserving. The practice of self-care can make the difference in feeling overwhelmed and hopeless to becoming inspired, refocusing on the journey and reaffirming value as an individual and to the profession.
For people of color, going to work in an environment filled with constant microaggressions and patriarchal social structures is emotionally laborious and can be devastating to work productivity and self-worth. This can be particularly troublesome because it can cause a lack of motivation, leading to an individual eventually becoming disinterested in the work they are doing and question their dedication to the library profession. Stimulating personal passions or projects outside of work can develop confidence and improve emotional health. Tapping into talents and energies that are personally important and meaningful is an opportunity to re-energize and grow.
Finding a mentor who reflects your personal identity and has achieved something you aspire to will help reinforce pursuing and attaining professional goals. One could also become a mentor which could be a significant way of giving back to the Latinx librarian community and helping others reach their potentials. Becoming part of or creating a social or profession group with members that have shared lived experiences and cultural backgrounds is another way of self-preservation. We have seen some of this happening more and more, most notably the #wehere community, a POC LIS group which was organically created with social media. With support ranging from small cohorts or informal gatherings to larger, formal state and national organization platforms - librarians of color are getting together (see Appendix below for a list of organizations). The therapeutic and cathartic environment in which individuals can freely express frustrations, struggles, and successes is even more valuable in this type of gathering and is a way to lift and amplify individual and collective voices in the profession
As Latinx librarians, we bring our own flavor to emotional and professional self-care in a form of conversation and exchange of ideas that we call chisme, or gossip. Visions of our abuelitas and madres sitting around a table in the kitchen come to mind, with the rise and fall of voices and almost certainly some laughter over a cafecito. There may even be tears. That is because by nature, we are talkers. We want and need that community support and understanding in an environment that is familiar and safe. This is reflective in how Latinx librarians gather in professional groups. REFORMA has provided this type of platform since 1971 and although not limited to Latinx membership, philosophies of service, programming, and mentorship tie closely to Latinx culture and heritage.
Particularly for Latinx and other people of color, creative and social outlets outside of their work environment that create networks, increase skills, and build confidence are helpful tools in becoming strong leaders. By pursuing a project or goal and excelling at it, individuals can exhibit themselves as expressive and assertive professionals in librarianship, resulting in personal and professional empowerment and freedom.
iSi se puede!