Fighting for Good

“There’s some good in this world, librarians… and it’s worth fighting for.”

Hafuboti misquoting Samwise Gamgee

I have repeatedly tried to put together a post about libraries and what we’ve been going through over the past few years. I have ranted about the groups/systems that have let down librarians. And when I say “librarians,” I mean both those who have MILSes, and those who aren’t “truly” librarians. I have tried to give pep talks and reminders of why what we do is important, how to be safer at work, and how to begin to cope with current and past traumas. But, I’ve either deleted them or they sit in my drafts folder. I don’t know whether or not I’ll ever share them, let alone revisit them.

In fact, this post’s original focus was to highlight my written response to the question of what my #LAFE design meant. This question was posed by a Christian Terrorist, who is part of a small cell that now not only wants a mural designed by me removed from a public library, but to have the entire library destroyed. These terrorists who have made the librarians in that community feel afraid to do their jobs. Please sign this petition.

Some of you may be shocked by my language, but I’m tired of people remaining quiet around what’s happening in this country. Or it gets lumped into outrage-fueled culture wars where no one wins. I can imagine Christians reading this and feeling shocked and appalled that I would lump them into an extremist hate group.

How do you think Muslims feel?

We might not yet be at the place where armed religious terrorists stop girls from going to school, and massacre them on a school bus. But we have Christians who believe that this country is theirs and no one else’s, who believe that women are less-than and can’t make their own decisions – medically or how they dress (to name just a few of their dehumanizing beliefs) – and who are fine with massacres happening time and again on school grounds. All while the terrorists get a pass from a government that has lost any sort of façade of having a separation between the Christian church and state.

I have received translations for my #LAFE campaign where librarians requested anonymity due to fear that it would give the Christian Terrorists more ammunition to attack their library or the library workers. Here’s part of my emailed response to the cell of Christian Terrorists in Waycross, GA. It’s been edited for clarification:

My personal view is that libraries are not neutral when it comes to supporting every person who wants to use a public library for non-political activities, or in a way that would intimidate or harm other users and the librarians who work there. What libraries are – or should be – are non-partisan. Can you tell what political party is represented by any of the people in my images? No. That doesn’t matter. They are members of that community, and I don’t care what their make-believe politics are.

Rebecca McCorkindale a.k.a. Hafuboti

Am I scared of posting this for the entire world to read because it will make me a target on many levels? Yes. But I’ve had a privileged life where I can “get a pass” both with decisions that I’ve made, and with my invisible disabilities. Unlike those who are told they are hated – if not by a god, then by that god’s followers – for being who they fundamentally are. That people in their community are despised, not welcome, and who should hide in fear and not be acknowledged.

When I began Hafuboti over a decade ago, I could never have imagined writing something like this. But here I am.

Here we are.