What is going on? Ravelry and Accessibility - Aug 5, 2020 (Patreon Archive)

These IG slides still apply to non-Black folx or any one who still upholds a white-centered narrative.

Wondering what my hot take is on what's happening surrounding one individual and the discussions around accessibility of Ravelry?

My hot take: It doesn't matter because discussion about accessibility is much bigger than Ravelry and it is certainly much bigger than just one person. Also, any discussions about accessibility, size inclusivity, financial accessibility, that isn't also about anti-racism and BLM, isn't enough.

Side note: that individual being a bigot needs to be held accountable but doesn't define the movement for accessibility in the online crafting spaces. Don't let an individual derail the conversation more than it already has.

We've asked for accountability from Ravelry long enough. Ravelry isn't going to do anything. Period. They're a company who is still making money. That's it. This isn't the first time they've dropped the ball. Hate speech and racism is still in their forums despite their huge ban Trump and hate speech announcement last year. It's performative if there are no actions. That decision hurt BIPOC and put a target on us more than anything. The whole, they don't have enough staff to monitor hate speech and racism or fix accessibility on their site argument is pointless. If it mattered, it would be a priority. That's it. It wouldn't be an after-thought, it wouldn't come after making pretty yarn emojis. 

As I've said, I won't be wasting my time trying to jam myself into a metaphoric table/space that didn't want marginalized people in the first place. I rather focus on building new tables and new spaces that starts with inclusion as best as possible. (it is probably very impossible to include every single person ever in anything.) I would rather focus on BIPOC-led efforts and organizations rather than focusing on companies and people who just don't have anything to lose by being inclusive and are okay with not giving up/sacrificing something for others with less privilege than they do. I recommend checking out Fiber.Club. Focus on organizations like BIPOC in Fiber and Promised Fiber, Black and BIPOC led organizations. Support their efforts, donate money to their causes. Remember dollars have power. Visibility and amplifying their work can de-center the whiteness in these spaces.

Any discussion surrounding one person versus the bigger picture is really not a discussion I need to be a part of, especially a white person. Getting rid of anti-blackness and recognizing that all Black lives matter, that's the discussion we need to have more of. Because once we can recognize the importance of that as a whole, all kinds of oppression and exclusion will also find some justice. No lives matter until all Black lives matter and we really need to start drilling that into our heads. If there is a form of discrimination or disadvantage you experience, first think, how has this been effecting the most vulnerable communities, especially Black and Brown communities? What systems and policies on an institutional and legal level exist that are preventing the most marginalized groups from having resources for what they need? What am I doing about it? What can I realistically do to make change with my own resources? Privilege is still privilege, no matter what other oppression you might experience. Privilege doesn't dismiss your experiences AND oppression doesn't erase your privileges.

We've been trained our whole lives to have bias and to think a certain way. We need to learn to decolonize what we've been told through a white-centered narrative. We need to normalize making mistakes. We've been taught that making a mistake is detrimental and a representation of our character. It's not. Mistakes are a behavior, an action. We can change our actions and habits. We can acknowledge our wrong doings and still be the same person. We are capable of saying sorry and recognize our faults, fixing them, and still keep fighting the good fight. It's hard. We've been told that failures define us. They don't! Pick yourself back up, and keep going. Even if who you've wronged don't want to talk to you or acknowledge you again, keep going. Because bigger picture, because it's more than about individuals.