Read on Twitter
Yesterday I saw a post that stated something along the lines of "don't work with PIs that aren't tweeting about the election and covid" I didn't respond and don't know who tweeted it but let's talk about performative allyship. a shortish thread (1)
I haven't much tweeted about these things so first I thought I was in my feelings. But actually I haven't tweeted about these things because screaming into my echo chamber does nothing. It is a performance to look good and does nothing to change SYSTEMS. (2)
And the systems are the real problem. The laws and policies that create insane inequity in voting rights, LGBT rights, salary, and health (among others) should be the target. And how does tweeting make the needed changes in society to ensure a better world. IT DOESNT (3)
If you are concerned about whether a PI is aligned with your desire for social change ask them how they WORK for change. That will give you someone who moves beyond the couch performance allyship of twitter and actually does the work of dismantling systems of oppression (4)
No one should be in my threads for social justice leadership. I study bees. There are thousands of folks who are way more talented than me tweeting about that stuff. Read their work! And like their actual work not just the tweet version. (5)
Now back to the original paraphrased post. The assumption here is that if you're not posting about it you're not engaged in it. But for someone who is engaged, like genuinely working to change systems do they also need to do the performance of Twitter? (6)
Or is that just the performative allyship that makes people feel good but doesn't actually DO anything to help those that need it.
Is it just another way to judge someone by their cover and not by their substance? (7)
Is it just another way to judge someone by their cover and not by their substance? (7)
If you're interested in and engaged in social change movements (and i sincerely hope you are) and want a PI that cares about those things. Ask a well crafted question about it and look past the performance of social media. (8)
Ideas for Qs during an interview: ask specific questions about community resources and activities you could be involved in or that they are involved in. Someone engaged and dealing with those issues in a substantive way will give a meaningful answer. (9)
Not everyone is engaged in every community and issue though (there are so many ways to tackle these issues) so you may not get a full picture of their involvement or what resources are available but it'll get you a heck of a lot further than Twitter judging. (10)
If you made it this far and care about social justice and system reform drop a reply with ideas for someone else to truly engage beyond Twitter. Thanks for listening to my diatribe. (Fin)
