| A list of ways to connect | https://beacons.ai/jesskent |
| You can also hire me | https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesskent42 |
| My business -The Function Ally | https://www.thefunctionally.com |
Brainstorming sessions, especially those attended by a direct supervisor and the director of operations, are not the place to interrupt me to tell everyone why my idea is bad.
And if you say "respectfully" 3 times in 4 sentences, then you already know you're being disrespectful.
Explaining why I push back so hard on the question: "Why do you want millions of people on the Fediverse?"
If I ask people "Are there racists on Twitter?" People will say "Yes, lots!"
If I ask, "Does the owner of Twitter have the power to define moderation rules that allow racism but ban criticism if they choose to do so?" People say yes.
If I ask people, "Do the owners of Twitter have the possibility to algorithmically control what people see, and what gets amplified / shadow-banned?" People will also say yes.
If I ask, "Do you believe that the Fediverse offers an alternative to centrally controlled, algorithmically defined, social media?" People agree.
If I ask, "Do you think Black people that don't want to be on Twitter, deserve access to a better form of social media than what is available on Twitter?" People agree.
So far, so good! 👍🏿
But then when I say, "Are you aware that at peak, 1 in 5 Twitter users was Black, and 1 in 5 Black people in the US was a monthly active Twitter user?" Fewer people know that stat.
There were ~300,000 Black trans Twitter users that used the service monthly. Almost none of them are on the Fediverse.
Black people deserve safety. Black people deserve access to more choice in social media.
Decentralized social media is not zero sum. Adding Black people and making the Fediverse safer for them, does not need to take away from your experience.
Your instance doesn't need to go from 100 people to a million people to accommodate the influx of new users.
That's the logical explanation of why we should make the Fediverse safer for everyone. But... why push back so hard?
One of the problems with the world in general, and the US in particular, is that we often prioritize white *feelings* over Black *safety*. I am not gentle about pointing this out. Tiptoeing around this phenomenon is tiring for Black people, and I won't do it.
Black people are not safe on Twitter or Mastodon. The difference is that we as a community of people of all backgrounds, have agency to improve Mastodon.
We can make Mastodon safer without breaking the experience for existing users.
Anyone can become disabled.
Anyone can lose their job.
Anyone can become homeless.
Anyone can go hungry.
These are not moral failings. They can happen in an instant.
Most people are far closer to living in poverty than they realize.
We must fight for one another & for the most vulnerable.
Hi everyone. Been hermitting and asocial for a while. Depression is a bitch.
But audiobooks are a nice refuge. Just finishing up the 7th book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series written by Matt Dinniman and narrated by Jeff Hays. It's spectacular and I highly recommend it. It's irreverent, sweary, subversive, and funny as fuck. The narration is top tier, too. So many voices, all from the same set of vocal chords. Jeff Hays is a treasure. He is also the founder of Soundbooth Theater, where he collected a lot of great talent for quality productions.
The 8th book is coming out in May, and I have no idea what to do between now and then. Does anyone have any recommendations for something in the same vein? I need escapism, humor, great narration, and a writer whose talent with words is astonishing. Hit me with your picks!
I am probably going to mine the rest of Soundbooth Theater's collection, but at the rate I'm going, I probably need more suggestions for getting through the winter.
Audiobook recommendations please? A little elevator pitch about what makes the book great would be very much appreciated, as well. I have a car trip coming up this weekend and I need a good listen to keep me engaged.
I enjoy many genres, so I'm open to all sorts of suggestions.
Follow up: This year, I got to take the trip! I got to enjoy the improv summer camp retreat that I missed the year before.
It was touch and go for a bit because my hubby had COVID 9 days prior to the trip. We quarantined from each other and both of us masked in the house, and we avoided the necessity to cancel my trip for two years running. I'm so grateful that masking and quarantine are helpful.
I'm also so grateful to Camp Improv Utopia for rolling my registration over to this year!
Living in terror that I will get COVID and have to miss Camp #Improv Utopia a second year running.
Or, depressingly more likely, the Fanta Fascist will declare martial law and keep me from being able to fly. (It's not that my missing camp would be the worst part of that, of course, but it would just fucking figure.)
Calling all writers!
Back in the pandemic, I started a group called The All Write Collective. We met every Wednesday over Zoom, and we wrote. We encouraged each other with our positive feedback and held each other accountable with our presence. We did this for a couple of years and then it petered out as people reentered the world. I found that I stopped writing, which is a shame. It's possible that other members did too, which is a bigger shame.
I'm reviving it. I took a writing workshop from Nathan Monk and was galvanized to resume writing. I want to share that with all of you and encourage you to join me.
I invite you to join. Let me know if you want in and I'll give you a link to the Facebook group. The first session of the revival of Write Club will be this Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 Central time.
mekka okereke 
Broadwaybabyto