ALA Cognotes June 2019 Preview - 6

COGNOTES

JUNE PREVIEW

ALAANNUAL.ORG/MOBILE-APP|#ALAAC19

Journalist and Author Mo Rocca to Close Annual Conference
Emmy winner Mo Rocca is a correspondent for "CBS Sunday Morning," a
frequent panelist on NPR's hit weekly quiz
show "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!," and the
host of "The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation" on Saturday mornings. He began his
career in television as a writer and producer
for the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning
PBS children's series "Wishbone." He spent
four seasons as a correspondent on "The
Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and created
and hosted Cooking Channel's "My Grandmother's Ravioli," learning to cook from
grandparents across America. This session
will take place Tuesday, June 25 from 10:00
- 11:30 a.m. at the 2019 ALA Annual Con-

Mo Rocca

Journalist and Author Mariana Atencio
Mariana Atencio is a journalist, TED
Talk speaker, influencer, and award-winning
news personality covering domestic and
international assignments, breaking news,
and special reports. As a first-generation
Latina who fled violence and oppression in

Mariana Atencio

her native Venezuela, Atencio crossed over
from Spanish-to-English language television. This session will take place Monday,
June 24 from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. at the 2019
ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in
Washington, DC.
Her life story and the message of her new
book, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power

Mariana Atencio
Auditorium Speaker

Monday 6/24 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Sponsored by HarperCollins
Christian Publishing

of Being Real, available Summer 2019, is
grounded on the discovery of how every single person can come to find their own voice
and purpose in a seemingly broken world.
But it goes much further than an individual discovery. She said, "It is precisely when

we harness our own voice that we, in turn,
have an opportunity to use it to create and
foster community." For Atencio, she's channeled it in storytelling that is cross-cultural,
cross-format, and cross-border. A feat that
would not have been possible were it not for
the events of her
life and the stories she has covered. Quoting a
line in her book,
"to be a human
bridge - to show
that people on
one side were
just like the ones
on the other. I
kept thinking
about Maya Angelou's famous
quote, 'we are
more alike, my
friends, than
we are unalike.'
Why is it so hard for some to understand
that we are basically all one and the same?"
This is her raison d'etre, infused in her
philanthropic work with the DAR Learning
platform, which offers unlimited courses to
women across Latin America, and through
her involvement with the Children's Movement of Florida's "ReadingPals" program,
which recruits volunteers to read to young
children in pre-kindergarten classrooms and
libraries in neighborhoods across the state.
Atencio has been named one of the top
young voices in American newsrooms, and
her awards include the Peabody Award
for Investigative Journalism, the Gracie
Award, and the National Association of
Hispanic Journalists' Latino Issues Award.
She studied at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Georgetown University, the London School of Economics,
and UCLA.
Get details and add to your schedule now.

ference & Exhibition in Washington, DC.
Rocca's long love of obituaries led him to
create his new podcast Mobituaries, as well
as the associated forthcoming book, available Fall 2019. Mobituaries is an irreverent
but deeply researched appreciation of the
people and things of the past that have long
intrigued him - from an unsung Founding
Father to the first Chinese American superstar - from Medieval Medicine to the Station
Wagon. Rocca said, "Why should it be only
the rich and famous who get obits? Mobituaries celebrates extraordinary people whose
names you may not remember, in addition to
sitcom characters, historical epochs and even
snack foods that have all bitten the dust."

Mo Rocca
Closing General Session
Tuesday 6/25, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Sponsored by Simon & Schuster
Rocca will be joined by moderator
Barbara Hoffert who has worked for over
three decades assigning literary fiction and
poetry, planning book events, and writing
news and features about books as the editor
of Prepub Alert at Library Journal.
His appearance at the conference is
sponsored by Simon & Schuster.
Get details and add to your schedule
now.

Actor, Community Activist
George Takei
With an acting career spanning six decades, George Takei is known around
the world for his founding role in the
acclaimed television series "Star Trek", in
which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman
of the Starship Enterprise. But Takei's story
goes where few stories have gone before.
He has become one of the country's leading figures in the fight for social justice,
LGBTQ rights, and marriage equality and
George Takei
Auditorium Speaker
Monday 6/24 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Sponsored by Top Shelf
Productions
remains a powerful voice on issues ranging
from politics to pop culture.
In his upcoming graphic memoir, They
Called Us Enemy, available this summer,
the beloved actor, author, and activist revisits his haunting childhood in American
concentration camps, as one of 120,000
Japanese Americans imprisoned by the
U.S. government during World War II.
Experience the forces that shaped an
American icon - and America itself - in
this gripping tale of courage, country,
loyalty, and love. Hear firsthand from
Takei, as well as his co-authors Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott and artist Harmony
Becker, about this dark chapter of our
nation›s history and its urgent relevance
for our world today.
Takei has been a passionate advocate
for social justice, an outspoken supporter
of human right issues, and a community
activist. He has served as the spokesperson

George Takei

for the Human Rights Campaign's "Coming Out Project" and was Cultural Affairs
Chairman of the Japanese American Citizens League. He is also chairman emeritus
and a trustee of the Japanese American
National Museum in Los Angeles. He
was appointed to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission by President Clinton,
and the government of Japan awarded
Takei the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold
Rays with Rosette, for his contribution to
U.S.-Japanese relations. The decoration
was conferred by His Majesty, Emperor
Akihito, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Mashable.com named Takei the most
influential person on Facebook, with 10.4
million likes and 2.8 million followers on
Twitter.
Get details and add to your schedule now.

Programming
» from page 3

in rural and tribal communities. Members of RNTLOAK will present their updated toolkit
and a look ahead to projects for 2019. Researchers Aaron Lafromboise (Blackfeet Community
College) and Anthony Chow (UNC Greensboro) will share findings from their work Reading
Nation: Understanding Attitudes on Libraries and Literacy on Blackfeet Reservation. Build your
knowledge of rural and tribal libraries and engage with a community of advocates. June 24
from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.

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ALA Cognotes June 2019 Preview

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