LOVE IN THE TIME OF CAPSLOCK

the next step in the endotwracism campaign has officially launched: an invitation to encourage voting in the upcoming elections for the OTW board. the elections are happening august 11-14 and one must be a member to vote. if you are currently not a member, you can become one by donating $10 by june 30 and selecting "Yes" for the question "Do you want to be an OTW member?" on the donation form.

(membership is valid for a year from the last donation with the above option selected; so if you have donated to OTW in the past year, you can check your status via the contact form on their website - select “Is my membership current/Am I eligible to vote?”)

you may be extremely against giving any money to an org this dysfunctional - that too is 100% valid - but i hope you'll consider spreading the word anyway to encourage the people who are members to vote. please see the "other ways to get involved" section of the post above for some ways to help without donating to the OTW.


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i've seen a few people on my flist have already shared this excellent resource thread compiling a number of useful articles for an ongoing education in antiracism. if you have a day off work in the US today, i hope you'll check out at least one of these - for convenience, linking a few below:

How to Be Anti-Racist: A Social Worker’s Perspective
Is It a Microaggression?
When to Call Someone Out or Call Them In Over Racist Behavior
Tone Policing


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...and goddammit, if these don't lead RIGHT INTO the next thing i have to mention on this subject.

in case you missed my last (and rather angry) post, the co-founder/owner of dreamwidth has gone out of her way to derail the antiracist conversation sparked by the #EndOTWRacism movement in fandom by targeting a black culture critic with ZERO evidence of said critic's allegedly abusive behavior. since then, synecdochic/rahaeli/denise has done what MANY white people typically do when called out on racist behavior: she has DOUBLED DOWN on her claim, made another huge thread against the black critic, and - once again - presented ZERO evidence. she seems to be relying on the makeup of her "logical"-sounding argument (all structure - it's numbered, even! - yet NO viable content) plus on her clout in fandom to make people believe her... and sadly, many do. because realizing that a prominent member of the fandom community is racist is deeply unpleasant for many of us, so we'd rather dismiss recognizable patterns of racist behavior, or just turn away.

please don't turn away. when someone shows you who they are, believe them.

amara1783 has shared a links roundup on the situation. i'd specifically point out this post by pearwaldorf and the screenshots of tanndell's thread breaking down exactly why denise's "argument" is utter bullshit.

the bottom line is this: if a co-founder/owner of this site holds such opinions, then DREAMWIDTH IS NOT A SAFE SPACE. and if you had qualms about giving money to OTW for similar reasons, it's understandable - even moreso! - if you feel the same way about a paid account at DW. something to consider.

ETA lolololol someone actually tried to spew hate in a comment here. zero tolerance. along those lines, here is a relevant thread on why it's futile to debate conspiracy-fed people.

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...and let's have a poem!


MENACE TO
by Taylor Johnson

after June Jordan


Nightly my enemies feast on my comrades
like maggots on money. Money being my enemy

as plastic is my enemy. My enemy everywhere
and in my home as wifi is

a money for me to reach my comrades
and kills my house plants. My enemy

is distance growing dark, distance growing
politely in my pocket as connection.

I must become something my enemies can’t eat, don’t have
a word for yet, my enemies being literate as a drone is

well-read and precise and quiet, as when I buy something
such as a new computer with which to sing against my enemies,
there is my enemy, silent and personal.


Copyright © 2020 by Taylor Johnson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on August 18, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.


About this Poem
“I do think I can get to a place, one day, internally, where I believe I don’t have an enemy. However, given my material condition in this country, given the material conditions of my people in this country, given the fact that the descendents of enslaved Africans in this country have yet to receive reparations, I’m letting myself practice my anger. This is a draft of that practice, which will continue to be drafted as long as there isn’t liberation for African and Indigenous people globally. This is to say, my enemies are those who block my peace.”
—Taylor Johnson