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@indigenous_librarian

indigenous_librarian

Jan 30

Really enjoyed visiting @otherbooksla today and I will definitely be going there anytime I am in LA. Thanks to Adam for showing me around 📚💚

indigenous_librarian

Jan 29

📣 REPOST FROM @makcapitalism 📣 LINK IN BIO 😘

The Tufan of Return: Ceasefire & the Disentanglement of Catastrophe & Defeat with Abdaljawad Omar (@abboudhamayel )

🗓️Thursday at 10 AM ET / 5 PM in Palestine

Abdaljawad Omar returns to MAKC to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza, and other recent developments including the current IOF campaign in the West Bank.

This is our 17th conversation with Abdaljawad Omar over the last 15 months.

Abdaljawad Omar is a writer, analyst, and lecturer based in Ramallah, Palestine. He has written extensively in Arabic. In English Abboud has contributed to Electronic Intifada, Ebb Magazine, Material, Mondoweiss, and Rusted Radishes among other outlets.

Background photo, is a screenshot taken from a video by Mustafa Musallam. Help him rebuild his life in Gaza. Link in show description to his GFM

Support @thesameerproject which delivers much needed on the ground aid in Gaza.

Link in bio or at youtube.com/@MAKCapitalism

indigenous_librarian

Jan 29

OUT OF OFFICE: still traveling, looking at books and water 📚🌊🌽😘

indigenous_librarian

Jan 28

Traveling, but I’ll resume regularly scheduled posting around February 4th! 📚💚📚

indigenous_librarian

Jan 25

New article out by Abdaljawad Omar over on @mondoweiss!

Abdaljawad Omar is a writer, analyst, and lecturer based in Ramallah, Palestine. He has lectured in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Birzeit University and writes extensively in Arabic. In English Abboud has contributed to Electronic Intifada (@electronicintifada), Mondoweiss, and Ebb Magazine among other outlets.

Omar holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences from Birzeit University where he focused on the formations of Palestinian resistance in the Great Intifadas, 1987-2015. Omar has a forthcoming book titled “Freeing Palestine: The Making of the Palestinian Resistance,” due out Spring 2025.

indigenous_librarian

Jan 24

Class being taught by @hadarcohen32 at @newberrylibrary 💛

Arab Jews: Culture & Politics
Tuesday, March 18, 2025–Tuesday, April 8, 2025
6:00 PM–7:30 PM CT

This class explores the rich history, culture, and identity of Arab Jewish communities. Over four weeks, participants will examine the political forces shaping Arab Jewish identity alongside their vibrant cultural expressions in art, music, and religion. The course delves into the impact of colonialism, Zionism, and Arab nationalism on these communities, while also highlighting their distinctive presence within Middle Eastern society. Through primary sources, personal narratives, and contemporary perspectives, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the intersection between Arab and Jewish identities and their influence on art, religion, and politics today. By the end of the course, students will develop a broader perspective on the diverse experiences of Arab Jews and their enduring relevance in modern political and cultural discussions.

Register through link: https://www.newberry.org/calendar/arab-jews 🙏🏽

indigenous_librarian

Jan 23

Statement on the destruction of the Edward Said Public Library in Gaza, January 22, 2025 (REPOSTED from @mosab_abutoha)

My name is Mosab Abu Toha and I’m a Palestinian poet and writer from Gaza.

Today morning with a heavy heart I received the news of the destruction of the Edward Said Public Library in Beit Lahia, north Gaza. The news and pictures came through just three days after Gazans were allowed to return to north Gaza.

Starting 2016, I started collecting books from around the world to build Gaza’s first English language library. With the endorsement and support of authors and intellectuals around the world, I raised the needed funds to open the library in the summer of 2017.
…..
I demand that the American Library Association (ALA) (@americanlibraryassociation) issue a statement condemning the destruction of the Edward Said Public Library in Gaza and boycott Israeli libraries and cultural institution. In January 2020, and as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, I delivered a presentation about the struggle libraries in Palestine face, and I told the story of the Edward Said Public Library.

I also urge American libraries and authors, some of whose books were on the shelves of the library, to stand in solidarity with the libraries in Gaza and to express their commitment for a protected cultural life in Palestine.

In December 2023, Do’a Al-Masri, the librarian at the Gaza City branch of the library, was killed in an air strike with her mother and siblings in Tuffah neighborhood.

Lastly, I’m committed to rebuilding the library, its two branches, and even expand the project to build one in Rafah and another in Khan Younis. My only two concerns now are whether I can get books into Gaza and also whether I will find children who are convinced that this is safe and important to visit the library, especially after all the trauma and losses each of us experienced.

Mosab Abu Toha,
Author and founder of the Edward Said public Library-Occupied Palestine

indigenous_librarian

Jan 23

🌱📚 Mention of Maguey in José de Acosta’s “Historia natural y moral de las Indias” (Natural and Moral History of the Indies), 1590

indigenous_librarian

Jan 22

Here’s an interior of the previous portfolio I posted about earlier. The lithos are just stunning 🥰📚

“Estampas del Popol Vuh.” (1943) - We recently acquired a full portfolio of Carlos Merida’s prints of the Popol Vuh. Merida was one of the first Kiche Guatemalan artists to try to bridge the gap between indigeneity and the avant garde in 20c Latin America.

The Popol Vuj, considered a sacred text to the K’iche people is often attributed to Friar Francisco Ximénez, who did the transcription and translation which is stewarded at the Newberry. This early eighteenth-century transcription and translation of the Popol Wuj, again, is a sacred book narrating K’iche’ history, oral stories and traditions from the pre-invasion through the mid-16th century–believed to be the oldest surviving copy of the narrative.

The name "Popol Vuh" translates as "Book of the Community", "Book of Counsel", or more literally as "Book of the People".

indigenous_librarian

Jan 21

RP from @writersofcolour “Nothing in my view is more reprehensible than those habits of mind in the intellectual that induce avoidance, that characteristic turning away from a difficult and principled position, which you know to be the right one, but which you decide not to take.”

—Edward Said

1. Ceasefire
2. Lift the Seige
3. End the Occupation
4. Free Palestine
5. The Hague

Now go to @gaza.funds and donate to a spotlight fund https://gazafunds.com/

LINK ALSO IN BIO

indigenous_librarian

Jan 21

You’ll have to wait until later to see these beauties, but excited to share them with a class later today 📚

“Estampas del Popol Vuh.” (1943) - We recently acquired a full portfolio of Carlos Merida’s prints of the Popol Vuh. Merida was one of the first Kiche Guatemalan artists to try to bridge the gap between indigeneity and the avant garde in 20c Latin America.

The Popol Vuj, considered a sacred text to the K’iche people is often attributed to Friar Francisco Ximénez, who did the transcription and translation which is stewarded at the Newberry. This early eighteenth-century transcription and translation of the Popol Wuj, again, is a sacred book narrating K’iche’ history, oral stories and traditions from the pre-invasion through the mid-16th century–believed to be the oldest surviving copy of the narrative.

The name "Popol Vuh" translates as "Book of the Community", "Book of Counsel", or more literally as "Book of the People".

indigenous_librarian

Jan 20

Book reading recommendation. It’s a quick and short read, but very good. And colleague/friend wrote the forward.

indigenous_librarian

Jan 20

from nywarcrimes’s Al-Aqsa Flood 1-year edition

indigenous_librarian

Jan 19

indigenous_librarian

Jan 19

indigenous_librarian

Jan 18

Nani Nā Pua Koʻolau, translated as “The Flower of Ko’olau” or “Beautiful Are the Flowers of Ko’olau” is a song composed by Queen Lili’uokalani.

Written in 1860, this was one of Liliʻuokalani’s first published works or probably the first; it was published in 1869 both in Hawaiian and English, one of her first works to appear in print. It was signed L.K. (Lydia Kamaka’eha) Pākī, the name she used until her marriage in 1862 to John Owen Dominis. The English translation is by Liliʻuokalani herself.

This song demonstrates her poetic skills in which romantic love, love of nature and love of the land are happily entwined. This setting was written for the popular Pacific Rim Choral Festival which takes place in Hawaii each summer.

[Nani na pua. The flower of Koolau. / Composed by Princess Liliuokalani. Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, 1838-1917. 18–. Call number: broadside Ayer 1753 .M9 L72 18–]

indigenous_librarian

Jan 18

January 17th marks the anniversary of U.S. imperialist intervention: the 1893 illegal arrest and overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani of the independent kingdom of Hawaii.

Queen Liliuokalani, the last sovereign monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Born in 1838 into the royal family, Liliuokalani was a prolific singer, musician, and composer, writing countless songs in both Hawalian and English. Lili’u ascended the throne in 1891.

In 1893, a group of American businessmen and politicians (backed by the force of the US Marines—Queen Liliuokalani was arrested at gunpoint by U.S. Marines) illegally overthrew the Hawalian monarchy and placed Queen Lili’uokalani under house arrest. These violent actions were met with tremendous resistance from the Queen and other Native Hawalians. Lili’u wrote letters to Congress, and in 1897, thousands of Native Hawaiians signed the Ku’e petition protesting the illegal annexation. Despite this overwhelming resistance, the US illegally annexed Hawaii in 1898 without due constitutional process.

Imprisoned in the wake of a rebellion triggered by the coup, Liliuokalani spent her time composing an autobiography, “Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen,” in which she detailed her childhood, rise to power, overthrow, and subsequent trial, arrest, and imprisonment. Here she appears on the frontispiece of the book.

Today, Queen Liliuokalani is remembered affectionately as “Hawai’i’s Queen.” As the fight for Hawalian sovereignty continues, Native Hawaiians everywhere remember Queen Lili’uokalani’s grace and love for her people and land.

The Queen’s motto, “E ‘onipa’a...i ka ‘imi na’auao” (Be steadfast in the seeking of knowledge).

[From Hawaii Story. Liliuokalani. Boston. Lee and Shepard Publishers. 1899. Ayer 1655 .L72 1899] #hawaii #hawaiian #photographs #autobiography

indigenous_librarian

Jan 15

Very few items make me emotional like this one on maguey paper in Nahuatl 📚🥹💚 and not only because of what it’s made from but much more than just the substrate. Much deeper than what any academic can ever write about it nor understand. My friend says “after centuries, we are still helping ‘them’ to understand our worlds.”

indigenous_librarian

Jan 15

Good reminder from @abboudhamayel 📚💚

indigenous_librarian

Jan 13

United Native Americans, Mount Rushmore Occupation, June 6, 1971