I was also asked for a statement on the news from RELEVANT Magazine. I didn't get back to the reporter in time cause I'm doing my actual work: strategizing for an antiracist revolution.

So here's a thread for inquiring minds.

2. RLVNT is not my white whale. I haven't been waiting for them to announce anything. I've just gotten a lot of questions from folks, including fellow former employees.

So what I'm gonna' say is just cause I like writing and y'all asked.

Clear?

Good.

3. First, the things RLVNT has announced it will do are incredibly significant. They seem to have taken some suggestions from those of us who raised our voices, about getting HR and a board for accountability. Cool.

4. Other ex-employees have expressed to me a sense of caution because they've seen "new era"s at RLVNT before.

One former employee even told me months ago that this is exactly how Cameron would come back.

And the picture w/ Don Miller a while back foreshadowed, it I think.

5. The only way to know if *this* new era will be different than others is to give it time. An important question about the board is whether or not they'll be able to keep him accountable.

6. Love my man Jesse to death, but he worked at RLVNT for years without being able to hold Cameron accountable. So I don't know what it means for him to be on the board.

And a couple of other board members seem to have interests in the platform promoting their work.

7. The one extant recommendation from ExRLVNTers is, as far as I know, no amends have been made with the 44 RLVNT employees who signed the joint statement about the work environment they endured under Mr. Strang's leadership. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2x_lplREpxlfJO10GdtSPFJ71x11ltN0ps8jqjiExyYTp6Q/viewform

8. I'll say that the way the story is told through RLVNT's official statements doesn't harmonize well with what my colleagues who lived through that season have said to me.

But their stories are theirs to tell.

9. The framing of this story is also disappointing, line in the statement: "As a small, independent company with big goals in an always-changing media ocean, Cameron often led RELEVANT like a constantly redlining speed boat, going fast and making quick turns with little margin...

9b. continued: "This recent season opened our eyes to how that approach led to stress and a lack of health in our organization."

10. The problem at RLVNT was not that Cameron was just trying to keep up in the fast-paced media landscape.

It's that Cameron Strang was a bully, plain and simple.

And he behaved as though he'd never be held accountable for it.

11. The statement stops just short of blaming the harmed for not being able to keep pace with him. But the truth is just as one former employee said last year, the company "thrives in spite of its CEO."

12. At the end of the day, this is like someone telling me they want to date on of my exes. You're grown. Do you. But be careful.

13. Oh. I forgot. I used that whole quote because the "our" language makes it seem like the "team" at RLVNT recently had some epiphany together about how toxic things were.

I was warned about the toxic environment there within my first month of employment by a colleague.

13b. This whole thing was not "eye-opening" for any of us who left or the handful of people that still work there.

@threadreaderapp please unroll.