Mario H. Ramirez, Candidate for Vice President/President-Elect

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

If anything is evident from the biographical statements that have preceded this one, many archival careers have been the result of serendipity. In this respect, my entry into the profession is not distinct. I was on leave from a Ph.D. program, struggling to find a purpose in the world in the midst of doubts about grad school and the future when a friend suggested that I volunteer at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, where I was initially assigned to update some of the archives related databases. Pedestrian as this work may seem in retrospect, it opened a door of opportunity I could not have foreseen. Through the careful mentorship of the Senior Archivist and Director of the Library and Archives, I was made aware of the power of historical representation and the instrumental role that archives serve to chronicle the contributions of marginalized communities.

This fundamental understanding guided the next twenty years of my career and was a running thread throughout my work at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, the Bancroft Library, and the California State University, Los Angeles, as well as my scholarly contributions. In my current position as Associate Dean and Chief Librarian at The City College of New York, I have expanded this ethos to think more broadly about the role of libraries and archives in community and campus life, and how formulating reciprocal partnerships, collegial and empathetic library and archives spaces, and the power of representation and recognition can reshape our relationships as people and information professionals. Alongside a commitment to mutual empowerment and collective leadership, this approach speaks to the core of my investment in an egalitarian vision of archives and libraries that is transgressive and boundary pushing, and which reaches for newer understandings of our praxis and professional and personal identities.

 DIVERSITY STATEMENT (Each candidate prepared a diversity statement according to SAA guidelines.)

I come to a consideration of diversity, equity, and inclusion partly at odds with their appropriation into the administrative structures of libraries and archives, and their subsequent use to deter more challenging and uncomfortable engagements with institutional legacies of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, white supremacy, and misogyny. Often relegated to facile statements or policies, gestures towards incorporating DEI into library and archives praxis or employment and recruitment initiatives are subject to the inertia of entrenched power structures that resist change and that, at their root, oppose the empowerment of marginalized communities.

The work of DEI, therefore, requires us to act and think beyond accommodating diverse individuals and communities but towards centering their experiences and moving them into positions of power and decision making. This requires a shift in the very systems that we use to determine inclusion, equity, and diversity, and, moreover, a shift in who holds power in our society. If there is a throughline in my work as an archivist and information professional, scholar, and activist, it is this dedication to questioning and seeking to change structures of dominance, and to tip the balance towards the empowerment of marginalized communities. Inclusiveness and equity are more than the process of assimilating communities and individuals into pre-existing ways of knowing and being, but to fundamentally alter beliefs and practices in order to undo the biases, -isms, and prejudices that have been central to inequity and exclusion. At SAA, the integration of DEI into every aspect of the strategic plan, critical changes in personnel, and the revision of staid organizational policies, are but the beginning of a collective rethinking of how SAA relates to its members, manages its affairs, and directs its resources. Organizational cultures are slow to change, and SAA is no different in this respect. But if the recent past is any indication, SAA has the potential to be on a path towards a metamorphosis that sheds its tacit conservatism, places more BIPOC individuals in key decision-making positions, and dramatically revises what it means to be an archivist. No longer will considerations of social justice or responsibility towards our communities of concern reside at the margins of our praxis, but, instead, continue to be centered as the impetus for our work. DEI, therefore, will not simply require urgent shifts in policy or practice, but moreover a redistribution of power and interrogation of the organization's biases as well as our own.

QUESTION POSED BY NOMINATING COMMITTEE

As the Vice President/President-Elect, your responsibilities include addressing the strategic needs of the membership, ensuring representation of professional diversity, and actively recruiting skilled, dynamic, and decisive leaders within the archives community. What is your vision for the Society and the archival profession, and what specific strategies do you envision employing to guide them toward a future that aligns with its mission and strategic priorities?

CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE 

SAA is at the precipice of dramatic changes that entail its transformation as an advocate for the archival community in the U.S. and the guiding principles that will contribute to its leadership in the broader field. As noted in my biographical statement and remarks on DEI, fundamental shifts in power distribution and decision-making, and the interrogation of past policies and practices, require SAA to look critically at the very foundations of its organizational culture and to reflect upon how its past biases have disempowered marginalized communities and members. Therefore, a "vision" for the Society and the archival profession is of necessity a collective one that eschews the trappings of white supremacy, privilege, and hierarchy to inaugurate a joint path forward that is empathetic, respects and invites multiple perspectives, and creates opportunities for dialogue and leadership across all sectors of the organization. It is important for SAA and anyone in an appointed position of leadership within the Society, to keep in mind that it is the membership that moves the organization forward and that this collective is increasingly on the cutting edge of progressive politics and practices that foreground BIPOC and LGBTQIA communities, feminist and community-centered methods for cultural heritage and stewardship, and intersectional approaches to description, digital archiving, AI, appraisal, collection development, and resource sharing.

In order for SAA to attract and recruit "skilled, dynamic, and decisive leaders," it must first envision a future where it creates a space for them to flourish and continuously question the very organization within which they operate as a means of empowerment and place making. The broader application of this ethos to the membership writ large, will allow for the growth of advocacy, access, and transparency to leadership and decision making opportunities as laid out in the 2023-2025 strategic plan, but moreover will urge the transgression of hierarchies and current power structures. As we move forward as an organization made up of constellations of communities of practitioners and thinkers, we must always keep an eye on thinking of better ways to serve these constituencies, and if administrative and organizational structures function to hinder or engender their collective and individual growth. Indeed, the business of managing SAA should never be far removed from its purpose as an advocate for archivists, the archival profession, and the diversity it is required to support and represent.

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