Hey, I fu*k up too - Jun 3, 2020 (Patreon Archive)
I was going to just share this in the Professional Access tier but I think this can be helpful for everyone.
If you were not aware, I also run the @fiber.for.a.cause page on Instagram. It was started back in January of 2020 to amplify fiber industry businesses and individuals who provide proceeds or donations to important causes.
Over this past weekend, I had start compiling lists of businesses who were donating 100% proceeds in the month of June to Black-led organizations.
It was wrong of me to do this.
I wrote out an apology to state why:
“The posts shared of businesses and individuals donating to Black-led organizations have been taken down.
While the sentiment of donating to these causes with our business is there, it is still promoting and marketing non-Black individuals and gaining from Black people’s trauma and pain. Direct your business to Black-owned businesses. They need to be visible right now. Not us. I apologize for this mistake of highlighting non-Black makers and businesses at this time. I apologize to the Black community that I have hurt in doing so. I am sincerely sorry."
In the rush to help, we sometimes don't realize we're not listening. I've been doing the anti-racism work for over 18 months and I can still make mistakes. It's part of being human but it is NOT an excuse to not correct your wrongs. When someone points out to you, calling you in/out, we need to listen first. We've seen enough yt people in this industry royally screw up with yt fragility and defensiveness and ultimately completely derailing what their purpose was in the first place. Let's not keep doing that. Consult the people closest to you to help you see beyond. I did and am so grateful to have these people in my life to keep me going.
You have probably seen a lot of people, now even large corporations and famous influencers beyond the fiber community, that are posting about anti-racism and Black Lives Matter when they were no where to be found to raise awareness against racism, anti-blackness, and police brutality before. This is called virtue signaling, "sharing of one's point of view on a social or political issue, often on social media, in order to garner praise or acknowledgment of one's righteousness from others who share that point of view, or to passively rebuke those who do not." This is NOT what we want to do. This is not what doing the anti-racism work means. We can do the anti-racism work without the approval or validation of all Black and BIPOC on the planet. That's not the point. Fighting for our human rights is fighting for all human's rights, we don't pick and choose who deserves what, and we don't need to post on social media about it either.
For example, I'm American-born Chinese. Not all American-born Chinese people need to be friends or know each other. What we can do is muster everything we can to make sure we are all deserving of representation, support, and above all, fight for our rights to exist exactly as we are, for any race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Long and the short of that is, don't do the anti-racism work for anything other than to dismantle yt supremacy and systems of oppression and violence. It's not a bandwagon to jump on, it's not a trend, it's real work, it's life-long work. In this country alone (USA), over 400 years of systems to be taken down. It's not going to happen in a week or even a year.
I wrote this in an Instagram story on my own page before I fu*ked up and I am taking my own advice the best I can.
"There is a lot of information and perspectives being shared right now. Remember Black people are not a monolith either. Every single Black person is going to use their voice differently, need different things, and ask that we use our privileges in different ways. Please remember to listen first. I repeat, DO NOT ENTER BLACK SPACES to tell them how to act or feel or think. Keep in mind what the goal is: to end yt supremacy, to end anti-blackness, to end police brutality, to dismantle all systems of oppression and violence. This isn’t going to happen in one week or even a month. Validation of “doing the right thing the right way” shouldn’t be what we seek. Give yourself some grace if you are feeling guilt and shame. You need to get through that to keep pushing the real goals. We’re going to make mistakes. Don’t let that shut you down and stop you. Keep going. Keep pushing forward the movement, the revolution."