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Remember that time I said I was gonna tell y'all about DCU and the grand opening, grand closing of it all?
Preface: this is not to start shit or stir drama. It's about accountability and making sure the next time white folks wanna create any spaces, they're already crystal clear on how to properly make that space safe and diverse. And this is solely my experience, not everyone's.
If you aren't aware, DCU was disabled creators universe. It was meant to be a new mentor program specifically for writers with disabilities. I was contacted to join in late December. I thought it was an amazing idea! And for ppl to think of ME for this?? Of course I'd join!
I should not have joined.
The thing is, as much as I talk about knowing who you work with and vetting stuff thoroughly - sometimes I don't! I get too excited and just agree to stuff without knowing the full details. I trust too easily in certain respects. I'm working on it.
After accepting and joining the slack, a friend who I learned was also asked to join mentioned there was some not so great stuff happening behind the scenes. Because I'm nosy, I went to the check stuff out. Immediately in my head I heard that "oh no" clip from tiktok.
The short version: hardly any mentors were BIPOC, NONE of the leadership was BIPOC, people pushing for diversity were gaslit, questions of antiblackness went unanswered... I felt exactly like that community gif.
Issues of pack of representation had apparently been brought up months and months before I showed up, and as it turned out, my friend and I were brought on to up their diversity numbers. That made me feel way less thrilled to be there.
By the time I arrived, things were basically at the tipping point. Just says later, almost the entire panel of leadership stepped down. An attempt to regroup and move on was on the table, but many of us felt just moving on and starting fresh elsewhere was a better idea.
Lo and behold, the decision was made for us! Upon waking up one morning, I found an email saying DCU was shutting down. The slack was gone (and thus evidence of bullshit vanished). Then a day or so later, the Twitter account vanished. I still don't know what the final straw was.
So what, exactly, could have been done differently?
1) When Black ppl and allies point out antiblackness, listen to them.
It felt good knowing there were white ppl who chose to stand up and raise hell about a lack of diversity! Loved that. But.
1) When Black ppl and allies point out antiblackness, listen to them.
It felt good knowing there were white ppl who chose to stand up and raise hell about a lack of diversity! Loved that. But.
Hated that these ppl speaking up were often talked over. When specifically trying to talk about the involvement of Black mentors/leadership, leadership opted to go for more generic BIPOC (and, for some reason, queer) rep. Specific questions of Blackness went by the wayside.
And for some reason, until I said Black and BIPOC are not interchangeable, these allies weren't listened to. There was a lot of deflecting, and a lot of hiding behind the inclusion of other POC and queer mentors. When this was pointed out, the response was defensiveness.
And I get it! It can feel like a personal attack when someone tells you your actions are antiblack! But the thing to do is listen, learn, and grow (like every apology ever claims they'll do). It's not to gaslight, get angry, or ignore.
(Sidebar: non Black POC, pls learn this as well. Another mentor complained that there wasn't enough talk about their specific heritage bc there was too much focus on Blackness which is...wildly antiblack. They then argued with me about how that wasn't antiblack. 
)
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2) Have your leadership committee be diverse from jump.
I don't think I need to explain this.
I don't think I need to explain this.
3) Make sure you know who you're proverbially jumping into bed with.
As others involved have pointed out, leadership was a bit wonky to begin with bc of the involvement of someone who already was known to be problematic. That can throw off the whole vibe. Vet your folks.
As others involved have pointed out, leadership was a bit wonky to begin with bc of the involvement of someone who already was known to be problematic. That can throw off the whole vibe. Vet your folks.
4) Don't rush.
The excitement of doing something you think is great can cause you to go much faster than you need to, and that happened here. In the haste of wanting to launch, so many important things were overlooked or brushed aside to figure out later. Not good.
The excitement of doing something you think is great can cause you to go much faster than you need to, and that happened here. In the haste of wanting to launch, so many important things were overlooked or brushed aside to figure out later. Not good.
5) Don't do the thing for clout.
There's a possibility that things went so quickly in an attempt to do something career-boosting. And now, it crashed and burned. And possibly wants to be buried and forgotten to avoid career implosions. If that's your motivation.... No.
There's a possibility that things went so quickly in an attempt to do something career-boosting. And now, it crashed and burned. And possibly wants to be buried and forgotten to avoid career implosions. If that's your motivation.... No.
6) Antiracist first, career second.
Much of this has gone undiscussed bc who wants to admit to doing shitty things? But it's also a matter of wanting to preserve careers. But I'm of the opinion that if you care more about your career than about being antiracist, you can choke.
Much of this has gone undiscussed bc who wants to admit to doing shitty things? But it's also a matter of wanting to preserve careers. But I'm of the opinion that if you care more about your career than about being antiracist, you can choke.
7) Tricky language gets you fucked up.
Purporting a deeper involvement of others than what their actual involvement is? Not cool. Don't claim ppl are basically advisors when they just answered a question or two about helping. It's disingenuous and misleading.
Purporting a deeper involvement of others than what their actual involvement is? Not cool. Don't claim ppl are basically advisors when they just answered a question or two about helping. It's disingenuous and misleading.
8) I dunno man just don't be shitty.
That's it. Don't be shitty. That's all you gotta do.
That's it. Don't be shitty. That's all you gotta do.
Disability spaces often times aren't particularly accommodating for Black disabled ppl. And this one was no different. But y'all gotta get up out your feelings and own up to that instead of hiding behind other marginalizations. It's not fair and it's not cool.
