Read on Twitter
Loved the skewering of FOMO expectations to raise funds for good orgs, but they probably should have stopped short of merch...
is essentially one giant troll on the tech community, not sure it's possible to attach it to BLM without looking disrespectful. https://twitter.com/RitaRoloff/status/1276694013865627648
is essentially one giant troll on the tech community, not sure it's possible to attach it to BLM without looking disrespectful. https://twitter.com/RitaRoloff/status/1276694013865627648
I also didn't love their response to critique. There's a particular type of righteous defensiveness I see in young marginalised folk keen to speak truth to power. It's like they see communicating with respect as playing into respectability politics rather than effective messaging
What could they have done here? Perhaps private messaging people making legit, good faith critiques to have open conversations without ruining the surprise, sharing takeaways from those conversations post-reveal.
Or just "Fair point, thank you. I'll take that back to the team."
Or just "Fair point, thank you. I'll take that back to the team."
Instead, they used tactics I've had used on me as a WOC speaking on social justice. Screenshotting and sharing tweets to mock them. Dogpiling to fill up notifications. 4chan illustrations commonly used by trolling incels.
People who share your values deserve better.
People who share your values deserve better.
I founded and ran an intersectional organisation in a space full of people who hated me for doing so - or hated that I wasn't doing it better.
I learned early on that I needed to sit with the critiques I had a kneejerk reaction to. Sometimes they were uncomfortably right.
I learned early on that I needed to sit with the critiques I had a kneejerk reaction to. Sometimes they were uncomfortably right.
However, the kneejerk reaction I had was often because the people who wanted me to do better were communicating this using similar language and imagery as those telling me to kill myself.
It's not respectability politics to speak to others as you want to be spoken to.
It's not respectability politics to speak to others as you want to be spoken to.
So I appreciate this team and what they did, and I hope that kind of diversity and ego-skewering is the future of tech.
But I also hope they take the criticisms they've heard on board. They need to understand that any harm you cause while doing good can devalue your whole work.
But I also hope they take the criticisms they've heard on board. They need to understand that any harm you cause while doing good can devalue your whole work.
This is a lesson white people have been asked to address for a while, with their white-led charities and projects fuelled by White Saviour Complex. Causing harm while doing good.
As POC we are not immune from this trap - and we will be judged far more harshly for our efforts.
As POC we are not immune from this trap - and we will be judged far more harshly for our efforts.
