{"id":600682,"date":"2021-07-22T18:51:20","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T22:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=600682"},"modified":"2021-07-22T18:51:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T22:51:25","slug":"after-attacks-on-black-jewish-woman-who-resigned-as-diversity-officer-childrens-book-group-director-announces-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-attacks-on-black-jewish-woman-who-resigned-as-diversity-officer-childrens-book-group-director-announces-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"After Attacks On Black Jewish Woman Who Resigned As Diversity Officer, Children\u2019s Book Group Director Announces Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fafter-attacks-on-black-jewish-woman-who-resigned-as-diversity-officer-childrens-book-group-director-announces-retirement%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=600682&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1200853960.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The Society of Children\u2019s Bookmakers and Illustrators\u2019 (SCBWI) executive director announced this week that she will retire at the end of this year as the group weathers a controversy over the sudden resignation of its diversity officer, a black Jewish woman.<\/p>\n<p>Executive Director Lin Oliver told faculty for the society\u2019s summer conference in a July 19 email that she will retire this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publishersweekly.com\/pw\/by-topic\/childrens\/childrens-industry-news\/article\/86928-voicing-support-for-diversity-and-reorganization-scbwi-director-announces-retirement-amid-controversy.html\">according<\/a> to Publisher\u2019s Weekly.<\/p>\n<p>Her announcement comes as the professional group, which has 22,000 members globally, grapples with the resignation of its chief equity and inclusion officer April Powers, who was attacked and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/april-powers-ex-scbwi-diversity-chief-sent-death-threats-after-sharing-antisemitism-post-1607181\">sent death threats<\/a> after she posted a statement of solidarity with Jewish people last month.<\/p>\n<p>Powers, who is black and Jewish, resigned on June 27, shortly after SCBWI posted the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SCBWI\/photos\/a.129189255298101\/349922729891418\/?type=3\">statement<\/a> to its website and Facebook on June 10.<\/p>\n<p>In its statement, the SCBWI said it \u201cunequivocally recognizes\u201d that the world\u2019s Jewish people \u201chave the right to life, safety, and freedom from scapegoating and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo person should be at risk because of their heritage, religion, disability, or whom they love,\u201d the SCBWI said, adding that over the last several years, anti-Semitism has been \u201con the rise globally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred, it has its own name,\u201d the group said. \u201cIt is the example from which many forms of racism and violence are perpetrated. As writers, illustrators, and translators of children\u2019s literature, we are responsible for promoting equity and humanizing people in our work-all children and all families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSilence is often mistaken for acceptance and results in the perpetration of more hatred and violence against different types of people. As proof, it saddens us that for the fourth time this year we are compelled to invite you to join us in not looking away and in speaking out against all forms of hate, including antisemitism,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n<p>The statement mentioned \u201call forms of hate.\u201d It did not specifically mention Israel, Palestinians, Muslims, or conflict between any groups.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, it was met with criticism from authors including Palestinian-American writer Razan Abdin-Adnani, a member of the SCBWI, who attacked Powers as \u201cdismissive and culturally insensitive.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.50985915493\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If I may\u2026 just one more tweet before I step away for a bit. Here&#8217;s their DEI officer, April Powers, talking about her organizational goals for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/scbwi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@scbwi<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BsevhEu4yK\">https:\/\/t.co\/BsevhEu4yK<\/a> &amp; below is April Power stating that she is &#8220;Pro-Israel&#8221; on an official SCBWI forum. Coincidence? \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0AWmRE1UPW\">pic.twitter.com\/0AWmRE1UPW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Razan A-A \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 (@razanabnani) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/razanabnani\/status\/1407459628103909387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cYou can imagine my dismay when they released a powerful statement in support of the Jewish community,\u201d Abdin-Adnani tweeted.<\/p>\n<p>Abdin-Adnani said that while she does not disagree with this statement \u201cin the slightest bit,\u201d she was disappointed with Powers\u2019 response to her concerns. The Palestinian author said she had inquired about potential statements of solidarity with Palestinians and Muslims as well, to which Powers responded, \u201cif we see a surge against Muslims globally as we have w\/ other groups, expect us to speak out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following Abdin-Adnani\u2019s criticism, Powers was subjected to a torrent of abuse online that reportedly included death threats and doxxing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s credible or not, the feeling that you have when someone threatens your life and that of your family online and publicly is a terrorist act,\u201d Powers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/april-powers-ex-scbwi-diversity-chief-sent-death-threats-after-sharing-antisemitism-post-1607181\">told<\/a> Newsweek.<\/p>\n<p>Powers resigned from the SCBWI and issued a statement apologizing for neglecting to address \u201cthe rise in Islamophobia,\u201d saying she \u201cdeeply regrets\u201d that omission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs someone who is vehemently against Islamophobia and hate speech of any kind, I understand that intention is not impact and I am sorry,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Powers later clarified that the SCBWI had not fired her or asked her to resign. She also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/scbwi-diversity-chief-resigns-after-not-mentioning-islamophobia-antisemitism-post-1605118\">thanked<\/a> supporters during a \u201cterrifying moment for me and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The SCBWI also issued an <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/scbwi\/status\/1409262124547727372\">apology<\/a> in late June to Abdin-Adnani, as well as the group\u2019s Palestinian and Muslim members.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like to apologize to everyone in the Palestinian community who felt unrepresented, silenced, or marginalized,\u201d Oliver said in her apology on behalf of the SCBWI. \u201cSCBWI acknowledges the pain our actions have caused to our Muslim and Palestinian members and hope that we can heal from this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oliver apologized specifically to Abdin-Adnani and said the writer has been unblocked from the organization\u2019s feed. Abdin-Adnani did not accept the apology, but instead <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/razanabnani\/status\/1409631299128594439\">urged<\/a> a boycott of SCBWI and slammed Oliver for her nearly $200,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/nonprofits\/organizations\/300456551\">salary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The SCBWI did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Abdin-Adnani has a history of replying to Twitter threads with comments criticizing Jews, including <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/razanabnani\/status\/1400225183324061697\">remarks<\/a> like \u201cI hear Germany &amp; Poland are quite nice these days.\u201d Last month, she responded in agreement with a Twitter user who <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/razanabnani\/status\/1400226216582467597\">said<\/a>, \u201cthe Zionists need to go back to Europe and Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The controversy even caught the attention of actress Debra Messing, who is Jewish and spoke up to defend Powers, saying she \u201cmust be given her job back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCondemning hate against Jews is NOT Islamophobic NOR Anti- Palestinian,\u201d Messing tweeted. \u201cIf you think it is, you have a prejudice against Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"8.6935483870968\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A black Jewish woman, April Powers, was FIRED ( forced to resign) as Equality Director because an antisemite hated her statement of condemnation against <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/antisemitism?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#antisemitism<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/swZPayoxYP\">pic.twitter.com\/swZPayoxYP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Debra Messing\u270d\ud83c\udffb (@DebraMessing) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DebraMessing\/status\/1410000222969806848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 29, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After Messing weighed in, Abdin-Adnani cried harassment and urged her followers to report Messing\u2019s Twitter thread for \u201ctargeted harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe right-wing mob continues to harass me,\u201d she tweeted.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Society of Children\u2019s Bookmakers and Illustrators\u2019 (SCBWI) executive director announced this week that she will retire at the end of this year as the group weathers a controversy over &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-600682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}