Many people are familiar with the term diversity, and many companies have created Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committees or positions to help move toward a more inclusive and equitable workspace. But what about publishing? How does equity play a role in publishing, and has there been any progress towards achieving more equity within the publishing industry?
equity
Ooligan Is Paying It Forward
By Ivory Fields @unicorn_bae
Publishing companies started calling for submissions from marginalized authors during the summer protests in 2020 but have done little to actually address the inequities that marginalized authors face. As a teaching press, Ooligan understands how inaccessible even the most basic publishing information is.
Digital Skills Empower Publishing Professionals
By Stephanie Johnson Lawson
Dr. Kathi Berens opened up our digital skills class for a discussion about the complexities surrounding digital media platforms, synthesizing the article with her belief that “basic code literacy is an extraordinarily empowering skill set that…gives users a level self-control and freedom that people don’t have if they rely entirely on third parties to represent their public speech.” Her point parallels one made by Michelle Goldberg in the aforementioned article: while she agrees with the decisions made that ultimately de-platformed the former President, she also states that people “don’t have a constitutional right to have their speech disseminated by private companies,” and that it is “dangerous to have a handful of callow young tech titans in charge of who has a megaphone and who does not.” We are not political leaders, but publishers are global leaders; how, and on whose terms, we use our voices matters.
How We Updated Our Mission Statement
By Michael Shymanski
Clarity, brevity, and utility were our main goals in updating our mission statement, and our group is incredibly proud of the work we’ve done. In moving towards our values of inclusivity, however, the mission statement is just the first step. Updating our mission statement is at the core of things that Ooligan Press wants to accomplish in terms of shaping literature and the publishing industry, and our work is still cut out for us.
Transcending “Business As Usual” in Publishing
By Shannon Gilb
This is a call to action for publishers, editors, and writers alike to think boldly and critically when engaging with social justice movements, specifically, the Black Lives Matter movement.