Facebook Publication Date: 8/23/2020 21:08
***ABSOLUTELY NO REACTS.
***COMMENTS ONLY
***REMEMBER OUR NORMS.
Hi!
Here is a picture of Tikka Rose for your viewing pleasure, and also for increased reach.
I was going to make a video this afternoon welcoming new people and encouraging them to truly do the work that’s needed to become a fully engaged part of this community.
Well, life got in the way.
I spent three and a half hours with a liberal white woman who was not hearing *anything* that I had to say, who wanted basically a free consult even as she dismissed and minimized and erased anything I tried to tell her.
In many ways it was a wasted afternoon.
We are *not* going to do that here.
For those of you who are here either because of the Christian Left or because of Ally Henny, you are indeed welcome.
BUT HEAR THIS, AND HEAR ME.
*You are also held responsible for doing the minimal work to become a productive and functional member of this community.*
That involves a non-negotiable commitment to read *and then follow* our guidelines.
I crafted them with purpose and intention, and that is the way to keep this space as safe as possible for the *only* reason that we are here.
In case there’s any question, the reason why we are all here in my virtual living room is *to lessen and mitigate the harm endured by black and brown people perpetuated by white people; that includes you*.
Safety for this cohort-people of color- is Paramount.
And if that is not something that you can buy into and live by, then, stated bluntly, this is not the place for you.
While I am welcoming everyone who has decided to become a part of this community- and if you are here, then you are indeed part of this community- there are no carve outs or exceptions to that.
If you are here to be a part of this community, then you cannot sabotage or thwart this community.
That is non-negotiable.
Laura, one of our admins, did a welcome of her own last week and we will place it here in the comments for everybody to read and agree to.
Again, non-negotiable.
I understand that crappy and violent behavior in other spaces is tolerated, even encouraged (howdy, TCL et al). However, the bad behavior that is considered okay in those other spaces is most emphatically not okay here.
Do we expect you to be perfect? Absolutely not.
But there are some rock bottom standards that are in absolute alignment with our shared ethos here, and again, if you are here, you buy into that shared ethos.
And if you do not know what that shared ethos is that you need to read or re-read the guidelines and read or re-read the pinned posts.
They’re all there.
It is neither unreasonable nor onerous to expect you to adhere to this minimum standard.
For now though, I want to focus on two major issues that I have seen over and over again so far over the last weeks.
First and foremost: no material edits to what you post, and absolutely no deletion of sub threads or of your own comments.
Here, that is considered absolute violence.
If that is not something you can adhere to, again, this is not the place for you.
Secondly, no snark or sarcasm or one word or one line drive-bys. Read the pinned post about quality of posts.
We are absolutely here to help you walk with integrity and intention and resilience and reliability, but that does not mean that we are going to subject either seasoned walkers, or, more importantly, black and brown people in this space, to violence.
Again, I realize that we do things differently here.
That is by absolute design.
We are new people doing new things in new ways and if that is not something you agree with and agree to live by in my metaphorical living room, this place is not for you.
In the last two weeks we have picked up almost a thousand people.
I am not going to do a groundhog day ad nauseum and have to say the same thing over and over to you all.
As we had talked about before the whole mishegoss with the Christian Left came up, we are working towards a new conceptualization of this space.
A big part of that is honoring those of you who are indeed doing your best work so that we can move faster and farther.
For those of you who want to do the minimum, welp.
This is an opt-in opt-out space, and we cannot compel you to do anything, but we will make damn sure that this space is as safe as possible in service to the reason why we are all here, which is, again, *to lessen and mitigate the harm endured by black and brown people (that includes me), perpetuated by white people, and _that includes you_*.
If you are truly and reliably and authentically here to learn how to live that ethos out, I will turn cartwheels for you. I will give you my absolute best, and I will walk with you with intention and resilience and compassion and Hesed.
If that is not why you are here oh, you will find this place frustrating, and harsh, and not at all amenable for you.
And that’s okay.
As I have said to people who have left bad reviews and recommendations, I am not everybody’s cup of Kombucha.
That’s okay too.
But if you are going to be here and you really do want to learn how to do better, in this space, in the rest of your online life in other spaces, and, crucially, in your offline life, then you need to respect both me and my recommendations as to how to best navigate the space.
And you *will not* make this space less safe.
You will not sabotage or undermine the work that we have been co creating both individually and collectively for 2 and 1/2 years.
Again, this is not negotiable.
For those of you who are reading, please signify that you read and agree in the comments section.
By agreeing that means that you have read all of the guidelines and agree to each and every one of them, and also means that you have made real headway into reading the pinned posts, all of which are required.
For now, the cheat sheet is as follows: Absolutely no reacts or emojis. Absolutely no dirty deleting of either your own comments or responses or of entire subthreads like we have seen today and over the last two weeks. No snark or sarcasm or drive-bys.
As to NORMS: everyone is expected to comment on *every post* (everything we curate is required) and respond to at least two others’ comments.
Again, non negotiable rock bottom minimum standard.
No spectators. No lurkers.
This is absolute minimum standard of behavior which everybody is expected to live by.
And again, if that is something you cannot or will not do oh, then you can opt out as easily as you opted in.
We do not go for numbers.
1000 people that we have picked up this past week (or the other 5000 since April) does not engender excitement for me, particularly when I see that precious few of you have respected the space or have respected me.
Most of you were and are either lurking or behaving in ways that are not conducive to the safety and integrity of this space.
That needs to change.
And if that means 950 (or 9500) of you bail out of the car, so be it.
Better now than later, because it only gets harder from here.
At this point in time I am only willing to pour myself into, and allow my staff and volunteers to pour themselves into, people who truly want to learn both our ethos and our method.
You cannot bring bad behaviors and toxic scripts and schemas and tropes into the space.
Again, non-negotiable.
I am happy to answer questions, but I think I’ve made myself quite clear.
If you have questions, *make sure that they are not already answered by reading the guidelines and pinned posts*, because that is the first thing either l, my staff, or our volunteers will ask you.
We are here to walk with all deliberate speed, and the behaviors that I have seen this weekend are in direct opposition to that.
If you are truly ready to buckle your seatbelt and stay in the car, then you are more than welcome.
We will walk with you with our whole being.
But you have a concomitant responsibility to this community.
Again, indicate your agreement in the comments.
Thank you.
Permalink: https://www.facebook.com/laceonrace/posts/pfbid0CAr2FGfdh7eFv98KFSVCFAP9eX8Tw1qUPAhkBELoBbudyZy7Fb8giAvdKyUFdHeyl
Post Type: Photo
Caption Type: N/A
Is Cross Post: 0
Is Share: 0
Impressions: 28
Reach: 17
Reactions: 3
Comments: 440
Shares: 2