If you want to have an honest conversation about diversity in children’s publishing, you need to include people from marginalized groups. A “panel” of two white women moderated by a third white woman isn’t it.
I’m so disappointed in @CANSCAIP right now.

If you care about lifting diverse voices, you will naturally include them in your discussions. A panel like this only lifts white women’s voices.

What an uninformed, backwards way to approach a discussion about diversity.

And to the white women editors who agreed to be on this panel:

Why did you say yes? Why did you not turn around to your BIPOC colleagues and offer this to them?

All this talking about including diverse voices, but when you have a chance to include them, you don’t do it.

And before anyone mentions other aspects of diversity that are less visible than race:

I know. I am genderqueer. I know all about it. And I know that there are people who are diverse in those other areas who are ALSO BIPOC.

Ask those people to talk about diversity!

This is the event I’m referencing, for those who are curious. It’s the September meeting. (These meetings happen every month, except during the summer.) https://twitter.com/canscaip/status/1301210135671562240

Here’s a screenshot of the email that went out to members announcing the meeting: