Read on Twitter
This is something that took me a while to learn (or unlearn idk) but MRDA skaters: no one owes you news coverage. No one owes you exposure. No one owes you entrance/existence in the space that they& #39;ve created. Am I saying you shouldn& #39;t be allowed? Absolutely not. But you (1/?)
have to earn those things and you have to work hard to keep them. You want coverage? Create it. You want a volunteer-run organization to cover your events? Invite them in, acknowledge and validate why they haven& #39;t given you coverage in the past, and accept the answer they (2/?)
give even if it is a no. Is it easier to get exposure on a site that already has followers? Yes. But it& #39;s not impossible to create that yourself. If someone has a negative opinion of you and your organization, then do better and change their minds. Defensiveness never works (3/?)
If someone calls out a problem and there is a resounding outcry from people who aren& #39;t associated with you/your organization, then LISTEN and change. Don& #39;t just defend or demonize. Also on a more personal note, toxic masculinity IS real and does not mean what you think it (4/?)
does. I promise you if you listen and research instead of immediately getting defensive over the term, you will start you recognize that it is a rampant problem in our culture. Speaking from direct experience. Emotions aren& #39;t weakness and the sooner you accept that the (5/?)
better life will be. It took me years of therapy (and ~$5,000 in therapy costs) and losing a whole slew of friends to realize my behavior was toxic and I needed to change it. I hope you all get to that point quicker and with a less expensive path. (6/?)
I realize this will probably be put on derby hell and I& #39;ll be ruthlessly made fun of 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ" title="Confused face" aria-label="Emoji: Confused face"> but it& #39;s worth it if it resonates and changes even one person& #39;s mindset. Multiple derby people helped me with this years ago and I only hope to pay it forward. Derby love everyone https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="â€ïž" title="Red heart" aria-label="Emoji: Red heart"> (7/7)
