I want to be happy here.

But my Black friends keep getting banned for doing justice work.

Or just... Existing.

At a much quieter volume than I do.

If people didn’t know me or who I’m connected to, would I be gone by now too? 😔

How do you exist in a world where your cultural norm is frowned upon?

Why do I always have to compromise with the oppression dynamic

or get removed? 😭

It’s painful.

And there’s no reason to it.

And all the “solutions” include bowing to that same dynamic.

Leaving isn’t your defeat.

It’s to the shame of the space that refuses to recognize they have blocked your equity.

But it still building the road that leads back to the opening of fascism.

That should worry people. Because again it’s not just the red hats and the cross burners.

It’s liberal spaces that cannot bear critique & disguise the rejection as rule breaking, thus the fault of the justice worker.

Staying isn’t a victory.

Because you’re not free.

You’re perpetuating the illusion of freedom, in the hopes that your presence and conduct as a leader shields others.

Which partially works - not well enough apparently - and also plays into respectability politics - oppression in fancy clothes.

Because again, people whose voices are gentler than mine,

some who agreed to stay behind CW or move to “better” instances?

Still got suspended.

TWO this weekend.

I’m not going to list names. That just sends them more abuse.

I’ve been doing this work 30 years. I know when I’m being put on a merry-go-round.

So just please remember all parties need a certain amount of privilege for name & shame to work.

The fact that it happened means I don't have enough to cover them.

If they have enough they'd still be here.

The most frustrating thing is going to be

when the voices that have been silenced in this space

are needed inALL spaces to rescue us from fascism

yet again.

They will appear when called and do their duty.

Because THEY know what most don’t.

We need them.
Because they serve The World, not just other Black women.

Securing our rights secures everyone higher in the caste or intersected.

We need the voices from the Black community that are also the most shunned.

The world treats us so horribly but also can’t exist without us.

And by the time it is realized in the macro, it is ALWAYS too late in the micro.

Notes: I don't know why an image that only says #BlackLivesMatters is marked as sensitive media when hashtags like #/BlackLivesStillDontMatter are not.

Also I only marked the rest of the thread with CW so I would not be overwhelming the stream.

#BlackMastodon I see you. I am just thinking and exhausted.

@Tinu

Images in a CW post are automatically marked as sensitive content by the software. That post doesn't have a CW, though, so.... yeah.

@haven4books I figured it was automatic. But I don’t know WHY that set it off when it hasn’t before.

Or who programmed it that way. Or why no one fixed it.

So when I don’t know the reason? But can speculate? I say I don’t know. Maybe that’s annoying but it’s an integrity thing with me. 🤷🏾‍♀️

@Tinu @haven4books Perhaps it’s because it’s a reply to a post with a CW?

I’m still learning the subtleties of how things work here, but I’m fairly sure there isn’t any of the algorithmic ranking/tagging that we’re used to on social networks.

@Tinu @haven4books The upside to Mastodon is that the code is publicly available, unlike the closed systems of proprietary platforms. It’s not your responsibility to check for problems, but as a developer I could, and I’m sure many others already are - I’d expect anything problematic at the software level to be called out pretty quickly.
@Tinu @haven4books Federated instances are great, but any response (no matter whether intentions were good or not) to your concerns that goes along the lines of “you can set up your own server!” is absolutely the wrong take in this case, when we’re discussing the policies of what’s probably going to be the “default” community.
@Tinu @haven4books In those cases, what (I hope) was meant to raise awareness of the benefits offered by this platform can easily & understandably sound like “find your own space” from a different perspective. It comes across as horrible, harsh, and exclusionary… I assume most of the people who replied that way would agree after giving it more thought.
@Tinu @haven4books I’m only aware of two cases that were concerning, both of which have been resolved l. I’m not asking for other examples (it isn’t your job, I’ll do my own research 😜) but I really, really hope that these are mistakes caused by a mixture of unfamiliar software, moderators lacking a full understanding & appreciation of the issues, and this abnormally chaotic incident of a Twitter exodus increasing the workload & broadening the diversity of users.
@Tinu @haven4books The best analogy I’ve seen from someone who’s been using Mastodon for a while was “imagine you’re lying in a field with a few friends & just chatting to each other, and then a music festival suddenly turns up” - not meant in a bad way, just to acknowledge the adjustment period hehe.

@jcc @haven4books Yeah I’ve not only been around since before social started, I’ve started and run communities.

There’s adjustment periods. And then there’s ways communities tell marginalized people not to bother getting comfortable.

The only expectation I had of Mastodon was

not to be treated differently from white people

in a way that involved me doing extra labor my white friends dont, specifically due to race.

@haven4books @Tinu Oh! Please accept my apologies, then - you’re clearly much more familiar with these situations than I am 😅

Re the adjustment periods comment, I hope that’s what it turns out to be… the community needs to educate itself & change its perspective to be genuinely welcoming of marginalised groups.

The appeal of a platform that isn’t controlled by corporate interests is exciting, and I’d hate for it to be yet another thing f*cked up by white people.