none of my black friends want to use mastodon
@bleak Is there anything I/we (the mastodon community at large) should do or stop doing to make them feel more welcome?
@thethinktanker basically what i'm saying is this place exists in a culture of white supremacy whether gargron likes or knows it or not and he is in a position to push back against it and instead he's been (accidentally? intentions are irrelevant here though tbh) leaning into it so far. i got sick thinking about it which is why i made the original toot in the first place
@thethinktanker that's the trcky part. asking these questions is a good start but in all honesty this (read: drawing attention to heretofore disregarded community concerns and doing open Q&A sessions to address them) is community work that i should be getting paid for. i and many others (trans, poc, disabled, poor, any permutation of these) face struggles that are more immediate but no less threatening, which is why the onus can't always fall on those who are aware to do that work freely.
@thethinktanker these kinds of conversations are really tiring because i've been saying the same thing for months across various platforms and it feels like no one that needs to hear it does. the only ones who boost my writings are the ones who stand to benefit directly from having them heard, even though we ALL benefit indirectly.
@bleak That's totally fair, it's on me to educate myself. I certainly did not wish to exhaust you or make your experience on Masto worse, I'm really sorry. Thank you so much for your time!
@thethinktanker at the same time i realize it's very difficult for people on the other side of the schism to educate themselves. there's no searchable repository for this info and it DOES require a lot of introspection, which is why i'm willing to eat a lot of shit for the time being. but i don't know how much longer i can keep this up, it's really really unsustainable fo rme.
@thethinktanker the best thing you can do from the standpoint of community educational resources probably is find people who have information that helps you, spread it around, and take an active role in making sure those people are in a position to continue speaking in ways that help. that's all i have to say on the subject for now i think
@thethinktanker whatever you do, don't let the hour of time, effort, and information i gave you this morning gather dust. complacency and apathy are the firmament on which harmful environments are built.
@bleak I will put it to good use, thank you for your time, effort, and info. Do you have a patreon or donation site?
@thethinktanker i always always always hear "i'm willing to help" but after delivering my thoughts anew i might get something in my tip jar if i'm lucky, and that's it. me getting paid is nice, and necessary, but i'm not doing this to get paid, i'm trying to make a welcoming space. it's hard or impossible do that when all i get from talking to eugen is "they failed to approach me diplomatically"? he's the administrator, he should act like it.
@bleak I will keep an eye out for this behavior and encourage him to push back instead of doubling down. What should I do to ensure minorities feel listened to and respected other than not being disrespectful or challenging their perspectives simply because they're different from mine?