up//root

up//root is a publishing collective that exists to center the works, knowledge, and experiences of BIPOC within the context of the library and archives community. by Joyce Gabiola, Sofia Leung, and Jorge López-McKnight (Editors) Welcome Thank you for coming to this site/page and reading these words. We — Joyce, Sofia and Jorge — are thrilled to begin our time as the editors for up//root. Before we move towards our purpose, vision, intentions, and submission criteria, we need to acknowledge the lands on which we write this editorial introduction. We write this while on the colonized lands of the Gabrielino/Tongva, Tonkawa, Lipan Apache, and Comanche, and Wampanoag peoples. As we acknowledge their stewardship of the land, each of us has taken a step towards solidarity with the Indigenous peoples on whose land we inhabit. These actions include becoming an annual patron and community supporter for Nalgona Positivity Pride(1), calling the National Resource Committee leadership to protect the Mashpee Reservation and pass HR 312, and pressuring the University of Texas Austin Archaeological Research Laboratory to return Indigenous ancestral remains. As you read this, we strongly encourage you, if you have not already, to research the Indigenous lands you occupy and see how you can contribute time, energy, or financially towards the needs of the lands and the peoples of the land. We need to express our deep appreciation to Jennifer (Jenny) A. Ferretti and Nicole Cooke, who launched a previous We Here publication via Medium in 2016. Their labor and energies, along with those of the authors, established a strong foundation and created a necessary pathway to the kind of knowledge-making we deserve — made by us, for us, and of us, not simply about us. They will continue on as advisors, in addition to the other We Here administrators, Jennifer Brown and Charlotte Roh. In the near future, we will launch a call for an undergraduate or master’s student to join the advisory board, and possibly an additional editor.