carl marksFirst a summary, jump to the bottom for action steps
In recent days, folks such as @ErickaSimone, @KimCrayton1, @timnitGebru (lmk if you want to be untagged from this post) and many, MANY more have been speaking out about how toxic fedi culture is for Black folks and how the tools we have access to just aren't enough.
In response, we've been seeing an outpouring of antiblack harassment directed towards them and others from a wide range of instances on the fediverse. This is nothing new, although it has meant a lot of extra work for mod teams who are trying to keep their users safe from this harassment.
This always happens when Black folks, particularly Black women and Black queers, speak up about their experience on the fediverse and Mastodon specifically. They get met with straight up denial, minimization, victim blaming, you name it.
After @are0h spoke up about how the team at Mastodon does not prioritize safety and someone offered to contribute $10k per year and fundraise more specifically for safety features, here was a response from one of the official team members at Mastodon:
https://oisaur.com/@renchap/112879553557675787
It's clear what their priorities ARE and ARE NOT. They know what it's like for Black folks on here, and it's just not that big of a problem for them. Suggestions and offers for assistance are ignored and urgency is met with admonishments for patience. Clearly, us going to them ain't making a difference, so I won't advise we dogpile them about it (not because it would be "wrong" necessarily but obvs it won't work).
So, what can you do about it?
At this point, I am joining a growing chorus of Black folks on this platform who are seeking a better alternative. A project that takes safety seriously and builds infrastructure with the needs of oppressed folks CENTERED rather than MARGINALIZED.
We need a hard fork. And it just so happens that some folks are already hard at work cooking one up, but they can't do it alone. Along with general support, they need funding.
You can see @are0h's March blog post about it here:
https://h-i.works/2024/04/a-case-for-community.html
Or, if you prefer a simple donation link, you can go here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-new-way-to-social-media
We're getting tired of playing whack-a-mole with white supremacists on the fediverse. We need something better. We need your help.
If what you've been seeing upsets you, if you are anywhere near as fed up as I am, if you want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, here is something simple and concrete you can do.
Thanks for reading.
initOnez
robin
Ericka Simone
pgcd
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