Conversations #4 - Ronni Abergel

Founder & CEO of The Human Library Organization

Nicholas McCay

Oct 28, 2019

A Conversation With Founder & CEO of The Human Library Organization, Ronni Abergel—

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Hey Eclectic Spacewalkers!

“Hej fra København!” translates to “Hello from Copenhagen” in English.

Last fall we traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to speak to Ronni Abergel, Founder and CEO of the Human Library Organization (HLO), and also to document one of their events during Copenhagen’s Culture Night on October 11th, 2019.

“Menneskebiblioteket” as it is called in Danish, was created in Copenhagen in the spring of 2000 by Ronni and a few others. HLO has grown significantly since their humble beginnings and now operate events in over 80 countries.

“The Human Library® is a global innovative & hands-on learning platform helping create more inclusive and cohesive communities across cultural, religious, social and ethnic differences.”

HLO meets its goals by, “creating a special dialogue room, where taboo topics can be discussed openly and without condemnation. A place where people who would otherwise never talk find room for conversation…a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated, and answered.”

“The Human Library® is, in the true sense of the word, a library of people. We host events where readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations they would not normally have access to. Every human book from our bookshelf, represent a group in our society that is often subjected to prejudice, stigmatization or discrimination because of their lifestyle, diagnosis, belief, disability, social status, ethnic origin etc.”

Dialogue can be fruitful when a safe framework is a central tenet for these quite personal conversations. The conversations help to challenge prejudice, aim to help rid of discrimination, prevent conflicts, and contribute to greater human cohesion when both parties come to the dialogue genuinely wanting to learn from one another. All of the human books are volunteers with personal experience with their topics.

“Un-judge Someone!” is upgraded from “Don’t judge a book by its cover”

The improved statement honestly presupposes our biological judgments (based on evolution & survival techniques) of others, but - critically - allows us to consciously rise above them consciously. Companies can also utilize these unique experience stories to create a more progressive cooperative culture that is more humanistic in nature.

“The Human Library offers diversity, equity, and inclusion training for companies that wish to better incorporate social understanding within their workforce, as well as grow their cultural awareness for deeper partnerships with clients.”

Ronni and I had a fantastic conversation about the journey of HLO, growing-pain learnings, as well as future plans of expansion. Our conversation also got into the natural mechanics of judgment, identity, and community. I thank Ronni for his time, and the wonderful discussion we had.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Growing up with a French Moroccan family heritage in Copenhagen (00:01:39)
Different influences & role models (00:07:22)
“I don't know if it's about seeing myself in them. It's more about understanding the world and their understanding of the world, and maybe will help me better my understanding of the world.” (00:12:12)
After spending a year in the US, the reverse culture shock of going back to Copenhagen was indeed “weird” (00:15:11)
Judging is an integral part of humanity’s biological repertoire of defense mechanisms, but HLO is saying: “Become a NON-Judge because we know you already judged.” (00:23:12)