Member Shoutout: Meet Des Alaniz 👏

We Here members are doing some incredible work and in an effort to celebrate them, we’re giving them a shoutout 🎉 Meet Des Alaniz!

Des Alaniz

Identifies as: “queer, nonbinary, biracial light skinned chicanx born and raised in Los Angeles”

Based: Chumash Lands, Central Coast Cali

Works as: I am a resident librarian, primarily working in instruction and teaching with undergraduate students.

Image description: We Here Member Shoutout graphic: Off white background. Upper left: We Here black OG logo, “Member Shoutout Des Alaniz.” Center: oval image of Des Alaniz: a selfie of Des with a smile, wearing a grey tank top and black framed glasses.

Why or how did you come to join We Here?

I heard about We Here in the very beginning days from some colleagues in my MLIS program, who added me into the Facebook group. I joined up because I was excited to be involved in a explicitly BIPOC information and memory worker centered space and move beyond being tokenized and microaggressed in my course of study and various work positions. This is a brutally colonial and white supremacist field and We Here is a space that provides support and community for so many folks across this profession <3

What brings you joy in your work?

What brings me joy in my work is helping folks to take their own knowledge and research to the next level; to be in a position to mentor and support researchers who are just getting started to validate their experiences and the necessity of our voices in and outside of academia.

What brings you joy outside of your work?

I am proud of this community for growing so much and filling such an important gap in professional development and transformational politics in this profession and allied fields. thank you for your work <3

Thanks for sharing with us, Des!