Mastodawn

This is an important PSA for folks looking to make any place more inclusive. Do you want to be liked by everyone? Or do you want to make progress?

I don't know anyone that has both been successful in transforming a non-inclusive place, and hasn't been accused of sounding hostile.

It takes a huge amount of energy to dance on eggshells, and I don't have time to do it. So I don't. I'm a big boy. I crack sidewalks when I walk. So eggshells would have no chance anyway. 🤷🏿‍♂️

https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/110676207295654527

mekka okereke :verified: (@[email protected])

@[email protected] MLK was a much better, kinder, gentler communicator than me, and he was perceived as hostile. Ghandi was a much better, kinder, gentler communicator than me, and he was perceived as hostile. So you can see why I don't even bother with trying too hard to not be perceived as hostile. On this dimension, I do not care about your feelings. I don't even pretend to care. I just go about the work of making spaces that Black people should feel comfortable in, more inclusive.

Hachyderm.io

If you try to say that Mastodon can't afford to be more inclusive, or that it's not important for Mastodon to accommodate all the folk leaving Twitter, I'm going to disagree with that, and point out that those talking points echo unapologetically anti-Black talking points.

If you view this as hostile, I can't help you with that.

Let me be clear on what is going to happen:
* Mastodon is going to become a better place for Black users.
* Mastodon is going to become easier to admin for small orgs

CalcKey, MissKey, PixelFed, Lemmy, and Kbin too.👍🏿

"We can't increase the number of Black people in tech! It's too difficult!"

"We can't fight the power structures preventing college athletes from getting paid! It's too difficult!"

"We can't reduce the number of people killed by cops! It's too difficult!"

But we're doing all of these things. And we started by ignoring the dudes who said the above things.

The 1st step is "accepting the challenge." People working together can accomplish a lot.

Right now, I'm ignoring everyone saying that the Fediverse can't be better, safer, and more inclusive than it is today, and easier for new non-technical users to onboard, and easier for admins and mods to administer and moderate. And it will be better for app developers.

Eugen and AreOh don't always agree. Folks that work on Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla don't always agree. Folks that build parts of Android and folks that build parts of iOS don't always agree. But they all agree on this.♥️🙏🏿

Mast0b1t Jul 8, 2023

Annnnd cut! Well said! 🙂

Frank Cote Jul 8, 2023

@mekkaokereke of course it can be better. Sounds like a working group needs to be assembled like they did for the early development of the internet. Get a bunch of smart people together and start. Where you are with what you got.
You can move mountains.

Debbie Goldsmith 🏳️‍⚧️♾️🇺🇦Jul 8, 2023

rakoo Jul 8, 2023

@mekkaokereke I'm not 100% convinced but I'd love to have my mind changed by how it all plays out 🙂

You said in another post that the donations model isn't sustainable, and I fully agree. "pay-what-you-want, 5€ minimum" is much better. Even that requires change, from everyone. That's the kind of gatekeeping I'm doing. Of course we have to be welcoming, but my position is that we have to be welcoming with people who want to play together; if you follow the individualistic mindset pushed forward by capitalism, where kindness and understanding are not needed as long as you have money and/or privileges, you don't want to play nice with others. That's the gatekeeping I'm doing and I'm ok with that.

There is a big effort to be made in, as always, education. I don't believe fediverse people are the *only* ones who should be doing something.

EDIT: added a missing word

John Wilson Jul 8, 2023

@mekkaokereke Mekka, I’m so grateful for the work you are doing. Not just the work, but explaining the work, which is also the work! ❤️

narF 😵✌️Jul 8, 2023

@mekkaokereke How can we help! I don't have the competence to run a server or code improvements. What can we do to help?

Probably Paul Jul 8, 2023

Calckey seems to be doing a far better job than Mastodon at being inclusive towards non-white people and other marginalised groups, but there's still a long way to go. At this point, it's such a tiny part of the fedi (less than 2%) that it's a bit of a magnet for weird and wonderful folx who don't follow the crowd, which probably explains the relative absence of the HOA police!

There's even a defederated Calckey server run by and for BIPOC groups. Sad that they've felt the need to silo themselves from the rest of the fedi, but also great that they chose Calckey to do it. Features such as groups and channels (which don't federate, anyway) make it a lot better for building and maintaining communities.

Ellie Jul 9, 2023

@BarrenPlanet Are you referring to the developers, the software, or the admin of a specific instance?

Probably Paul Jul 9, 2023

@ellie
@mekkaokereke @/kainoa is lead dev for Calckey, which they forked from Misskey.

Probably Paul Jul 8, 2023

Calckey seems to be doing a far better job than Mastodon at being inclusive towards non-white people and other marginalised groups, but there's still a long way to go. At this point, it's such a tiny part of the fedi (less than 2%) that it's a bit of a magnet for weird and wonderful folx who don't follow the crowd, which probably explains the relative absence of the HOA police!

There's even a defederated Calckey server run by and for BIPOC groups. Sad that they've felt the need to silo themselves from the rest of the fedi, but also great that they chose Calckey to do it. Features such as groups and channels (which don't federate, anyway) make it a lot better for building and maintaining communities.

anachronym Jul 9, 2023

@mekkaokereke On that note, there was a lot of conversation a few weeks ago about configuring default blocklists on new servers. I'm at the point of looking into that for my own server, do you know of any resources detailing the current best practices in that regard? Or even anywhere where the discussion around that is happening?

Doc is about to go to wider review!

Private message your email address, and I'll get you a sneak peek.

Trisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦Jul 8, 2023

@mekkaokereke I hear ya. The "It's too hard" narrative is one that I'm personally trying to overcome when my spouse (a white dude in tech) and I talk about these kinds of things. If you've got tips on how to disable that narrative, I'd love some pointers.

Sentient Mortal Jul 8, 2023

@trishalynn @mekkaokereke How do we know if it's too hard? What exactly has been tried?

Trisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦Jul 8, 2023

@sentientmortal @mekkaokereke Lots of things on which I can't elaborate because a) it's my spouse and b) his work is confidential enough that we always bi-directionally begin convos with disclaimers when we need to.

Sentient Mortal Jul 8, 2023

@trishalynn @mekkaokereke I was giving questions to ask, not looking for answers.

Also given the history of white people mistreating black people throughout the years, it's quite something to say that it's too hard. Life for black people seems too fucking hard.

Sentient Mortal Jul 8, 2023

@trishalynn @mekkaokereke As a white person, my mom never gave me the talk -- that I had to walk and move in a certain way because I'm always presumed guilty first and people are looking for an excuse to throw me in prison.

Trisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦Jul 8, 2023

@sentientmortal Oh, sorry. I misinterpreted. Sorry.

The objection I get the most is that it's never the right time in the org to start implementing methods for increasing awareness of inclusion, diversity, equity, &/or accessibility measures. Whereas my research is telling me that if an org is really serious about it, the leaders will make the time.

MDK Jul 8, 2023

@trishalynn @mekkaokereke all large challenges start with small actions and joining hands with others. Collective action is powerful.

@trishalynn I don't have any particular wisdom, or sage advice here.

I just start making progress, and focus more on the folk that believe that change can happen, and less on the folks that don't.

This often means leaving friends behind, temporarily. 😢 They usually come back when progress starts being made. It's a happy reunion! 🙂

Trisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦Jul 8, 2023

@mekkaokereke I agree with you on the friends part. Spouses and families are more difficult. I keep trying, though. And I push the disruption of the narrative whenever I think it will be received.

The Animal and the Machine Jul 8, 2023

In support of @mekkaokereke

If positive change is difficult, it’s because it’s been made that way. People are being purposely bad, and that is all the more reason to fight for positive change.

When it’s my time to leave I hope to have made it a little bit better than when I arrived.

When someone says ‘let’s make this better’, saying ‘it’s too hard’ is negative energy. I don’t demand you put any energy into positive change as energy is limited, but you sure as heck can not put energy into blocking it.

LeaBug Jul 8, 2023

@mekkaokereke we can do anything. Imagination is the only limitation.