i think when we overly credit editors for inclusive publication records what we are often really doing is either 1. more a damnation of the industry or publication making that work esp difficult or 2. making a claim that good poetry by BIPOC is extremely hard to find

and while someone working hard to push against their publication and industry is valuable, it is also extremely possible to do that work and have never actually done much work to change the publication or industry at all.

so i am really more interested in how an editor contributed to inclusivity that will happen when they are gone. it is that old thing about dictatorships, which are wonderful when the dictator is benevolent but become disastrous when he is replaced.

which is to say good work in a mudhole that closes over itself is fine, but better work is work that creates a foundation. some people are in a position to do foundational work, so let us think on whether or not they have done that