#how it makes it look like whitewashing BIPOC characters would be

[kyofsonder]

This is important, especially because I think a lot of writers have been scared by the oversimplification of disability rep in discourse. A lot of writers are hesitant to write disability at all, believing that they'll handle it wrong by default.

While the best way to be sure you're handling disability rep in a respectful way is to either be portraying your own disability (like OP is doing, like my disabled writing friends do, like I do) and/or hiring sensitivity readers, there are key things to keep in mind when writing disabled characters on your own.

1) OP's point ×100. Disabled people are not a monolith, there is variation from community to community and from individual to individual. Some want to see disability portrayed x way, others want y. Still others want z or a or g or so on. Some will benefit from seeing disabled characters be cured of their disabilities as part of their disability rep, others will not. Even if you're also disabled, you don't get the final word on which form of disability rep is more validating or cathartic or appealing to your disabled audience. That's up to us as the ones consuming the media you create, as communities and as individuals. We decide whether we want to see cure stories or not, using our own communal histories and personal feelings as our guide.

2) Framing matters. If your disabled character is cured and that cure is framed as the one and only, sole solitary thing that could have ever given them any modicum of value or worth or autonomy or personhood, then you have misunderstood the point of disabled people wanting to see characters be cured of their disabilities. This is not to say the character or their peers can't believe, in canon, that the cure is the sole thing giving them worth. That can be explored in relation to your narrative and thenes without being framed as something that would be true outside your canon. This doesn't even mean that you can't let disabled characters gain self-worth and improved quality of life when they're cured, either. All this statement of "framing matters" means (in this context) is that if you frame your disabled character's cure in such a way that your real disabled readers feel like our own worth hinges entirely on whether we're disabled or abled -- when you make (any significant portion of) us feel like the media we're consuming actively hates us and wishes we didn't exist -- you have written your disabled characters and their cure arc in a way that's likely to do a lot more harm than good. You need to be mindful of that and always think about your framing.

3) Disabled people are people. Use your disabled characters' disability(ies) in a way that supports the narrative, but don't use them as props. Let them be background characters, but don't treat them as decoration. Make their disability(ies) incurable or give them a cure, but stay consistent in treating them as people the whole time. Different people need different rep, of course, but (pretty much) all of us want to be respected on a basic interpersonal level. Do that in your writing and art. Remember that real disabled people will be consuming the media you create, because many of us enjoy media, and write us as people. You (hopefully) wouldn't write a gay character as a running gag and then stop featuring them in the story once they get a same-sex partner, or stop featuring a trans character once they've become comfortable with their gender. You (hopefully) wouldn't write a BIPOC character as a token non-white cast member and then abandon them once you've met some "proving I'm not racist" quota. Don't write disabled characters as running gags or tokens or props and then leave them as soon as they're cured and thereby uninteresting to you. Treat the characters you write as people, and listen to your audience.

That's my advice as a disabled writer and fan of media. Representation as a concept has been wildly oversimplified, but it's not impossible to represent marginalized groups respectfully. Just remember that respect is the key word.

I just saw something again so

Different people want different types of representation.

Some disabled people will not want to see a disabled character cured.

Some disabled people do want to see a disabled character cured.

It all depends on the circumstances, people.

My ADHD, autism? I've had it since the day I was born. I don't know any better. It's always been there.

My chronic pain, my bad eyesight? That only started later.

And I don't wanna do anything about my ADHD or autism. Even if it could somehow be 'cured' I wouldn't take the 'cure'. Sure, it can be annoying, but it's just me.

My chronic pain, however? My bad eyesight? If I could do something about it, I would. Immediately.

So if I ever have a character with a disability that I do cure - it's not 'wrong' or 'bad' representation, it's not 'inspiration porn' even if some people might want to call it that.

It's the representation that I want.

Even if it isn't the one you want.

[writingwithcolor]

Black woman’s skin turns blue from powers; is this whitewashing/erasure?

Anonymous asked:

I have a character in a comic I'm hoping to write one day. She's a light skinned black woman(she's half white if that helps!) living in New York City during an 80s themed post nuclear apocalypse. The comic's main characters are all rock stars, so a lot of the character design elements revolve around the different rock genres. The character in question is in a glam rock band, so there's lots of bright, saturated, crazy colors involved in her design. The problem I'm having involves this one story beat where she gets mutant superpowers that give her electricity and sound based abilities. Her skin turns cotton candy blue as a result of the mutation. I'm hung up on whether or not this might fall under some kind of skin lightening or white-washing trope since it's a fairly light shade of blue. I designed her mutant look before her human look, so this was well before I'd even figured out what race she was, and I simply thought the shade of blue would compliment both the electricity powers and the fact that her hair is dyed pink. Is there a way I could still make this work? Or am I worrying about nothing?

Ideally, it would be nice to keep her brown skin tone. There’s a common comic and supernatural trend where Black people’s skin is covered up by a suit or Black-coded characters are an unnatural color (blue, green, purple, etc).

This is more of an issue when: 

There are no other Black characters of those identities besides the covered up/ ones with unnatural skin colors.

The creator adds this change to make them "special" because they do not believe Black characters, with features commonly associated with Black people like dark hair, skin and eyes, are acceptable enough for the character to stand on their own.

The supernatural special Black people are treated well by the story. The "non-special" Black people have unhappy stories and misfortune.

Other races of characters do not get their skin covered up or changed. Only the Black ones and/or BIPOC in general.

I think a quick fix for this would be for her skin to turn blue when she’s actively using her powers, at random, or other specific times, besides constantly. If she needs to be more consistently “mutant looking” Are there other ways she could change without her skin color changing or changing completely?

People with glitter on skin, light surrounding their face, and blue braids. Images from pexels.

More ideas that keep her skin brown

Hair

Her hair color changes blue or your color of choice (which could include body hair too, which would give her a more “otherworldly” appearance).

Note: If her hair is curly or natural, please keep it so! At least, the powers shouldn't change it straight.

Eyes

Her eyes glowing brighter or colorfully during power-use.

Note: If they're usually brown, they could stay brown when powers not in use, like Marvel's Storm in some versions.

Storm by Marvel Entertainment//20th Century Studios.

Skin and body

Blue patterns appear on her skin.

Blue glow or sheen to her skin without fully changing the color.

Her skin projects color and light.

New growths or changes to body, such as ear shape, wings, etc.

No matter what you decide, please make clear in your tale that she’s a Black mixed race woman. And have fun!

More reading:

How Special is Too Special? The Politics and Characterization of Stacking Special/Abnormal Traits on Mixed Race Characters

~Colette

[monathedefiant]

ricky september is racist but there's hope for him. . .

right?

ricky might not be racist in the same way as lindy and her little friends. but he's grown up in the same white supremacist culture as everyone else. there's nothing in the culture he's exposed to that's challenged the racist ideologies that he's grown up with as just a part of life. he's not racist on purpose, That's Just How Things Are and that makes his brand of racism just as bad if not worse in some ways.

it's the kind that sneaks up on bipoc when we feel safe and when we've let our guards down. a moment that happens so quickly that we can almost tell ourselves we're being ridiculous. . . until it happens again, and again, and again. like when the doctor tries to explain the codes to ricky who then cuts him off to assert his own knowledge while giving a skeptical up and down look. as if he's perturbed that someone that looks like the doctor would assume they have knowledge he doesn't.

HOWEVER!!!

ricky's reaction could also come from feeling underestimated. he's a pretty boy pop star who's brand is bright, flashy, and geared toward teenagers. he's probably used to people assuming he's dumb because of his outward appearance, despite the fact that he goes out of his way to learn and take in knowledge.

so, part of ricky's reaction is "how dare someone who looks Like That speak to me That Way" and the other part is "i may be pretty and popular but i know things and don't need to be coddled about something so simple".

i say this because ricky's interactions with the doctor (for the most part) don't feel that different than his interactions with ruby. he gives them both the same boyish grin he gives lindy when they first meet. he doesn't do a double-take at the doctor's presence. ricky doesn't make the doctor feel out of place in conversation or question the doctor's knowledge. to a certain point, he doesn't even seem rejecting of the information the doctor's giving him. more just overwhelmed and pretending not to be. hence the hand by the ear thing which reads more as self-soothing that anything else.

that being said, i can't read that skeptical up and down look as anything but a manifestation of the passive racism he's unknowingly learned to live by all his life. that look says "who do you think you are" in a way it doesn't toward ruby and i can't ignore that.

just as important, though, is ricky's potential to go against the grain of what's been ingrained in him. the world he lives in has been whitewashed to hell and back. the history books favor the "victors" (read: oppressors) over the Ugly Truth. i doubt it describes the Great Abrogation as anything but a benevolent necessity (when it was clearly an act of colonialism). we don't see anyone with anything close to radical ideologies, and they definitely aren't there to share those thoughts with any of the named characters. not to say they don't exist (and isn't that the perfect nugget for fic based off this episode??) just that they get no air time. even if ricky feels that something is off in this society, where would he learn the type of truth that could truly radicalize him?

while we don't get ricky the anti-racist, i still see potential in him. he frequently takes breaks from social media to touch grass and read books. he's open to new experiences even when they're scary or difficult. we see how lindy struggles that first time not depending on the dot and bubble even just walking around. let alone seeking out information. ricky put himself through that multiple times (ON PURPOSE!!) to learn how to walk and to gain an appreciation for reading.

which tells us he's willing to learn ideas that challenge the status quo. he's also willing to share what he learns with others. if given half the chance, ricky might've been just as bad as the rest. maybe i've got my head in the clouds and am refusing to face the Very Clear Facts.

but the man is dead and we'll never known for sure. so, i'm choosing optimism because like why tf not ya know. plus, i just like the idea that even someone steeped in a shitty society can still unlearn the bad and do better. i do after all live in the u.s. and support palestine so *shrug* i'd like to think ricky's no more damned by being born into a White Supremacist Wonderland than i am from living in a Nationalist Nightmare Zone.

[iloveyoulinpeckettcomic]

TIPS on drawing BIPOC ocs!

Soooo I recently did a collab with another webcomic creator, if you have seem my last post you know what one : ))

as soon as I saw the wonderful artwork I received I noticed something that felt off to me, it's lin's skintone.

This is my Oc Lin Peckett (main character of my comic I Love you Lin peckett)

I never specified her ethnicity (which is my fault on my part) I thought people might know by her looks that she's a POC. specifically she is black/Mexican mixed (I believe blaxican is the term used sometimes)

here are some examples of people I based her off of aesthetically

they are all people of color, share similar skin tone and hair as her. these images are good inspiration to use!

these women in these pictures are all women who are black/Mexican

I used the eye dropper tool to pick 3 different shades of color for comparison, notice how multiple shades are similar to her skintone

lin has tan skin thats more on the lighter side, sometimes her skin tone changed depending on the lighting but her main color is tan. she has lots of warmer tones compared to cooler tones, so keep it more on the yellow side than red/pink compared to other skintones. you can see a difference between the top and middle one than to the bottom one.

here are some white women to compare lin's skintone to

notice how some are similar to her skin, you might think ok so she's white NOPE, look a second time and notice how the color that matched best with her are the parts of these women's faces that are shaded or shadowed. using these women are not good references and if you notice most of them have more pinker tones, lin has warm toned skin.

heres two pieces of artwork I received recently of my oc lin, (both by wonderfully talented creators I'm grateful to get art from) but notice how bluedragon's artwork is the same as lin's. that's because she used an art programs best friend

the eye dropper tool!

this thingy?

it's literally in every single art program ever created, yes even mspaint

use it if you're not sure what skintone to use on a character!

but back to that drawing, you can see a big difference between the two pieces the one on the left by bluedragon is accurate. and the one on the right is by mk-wizard which has lin is very light skin. which is just not correct lol

so let's use are little friend again (the eye dropper tool) to recolor lin with the skintone used in mk-wizard's artwork. as you can tell it's a BIG difference! lin would be a unseasoned piece of chicken if I colored her like this lol (get it …chicken.. HA)

so my final notes to this long post is, please study the character you are drawing a bit more, ask questions. I know this artist isn't whitewashing lin purposely it's an honest mistake that could be anything from different computer monitors showing up different tones? or them being inexperienced drawing POC? which you have all the time in the world to keep studying while drawing! it's okay to make mistakes and learn from them : )))

also this isn't a "callout post" or anything negative towards the artist, this is simply some advice not just for them but for every artist.

I hope this helped in any way possible? and if I missed anything or made any mistakes pls educate me more on drawing BIPOC! I love to hear advice <3 anyways have a good day and drink some water bye~

[franki-lew-yo]

old: How not to talk about representation

Stupid fish faces. Also gotta love the blatant sexism imposed. Women and girls like characters cuz "they look like me" and none of the personality they see in them while boys show real love and admiration. It's impossible for men and boys to have shallow or badfaith standards from fictional characters.

Apparently Stonetoss -in his infinite wisdom- just KNOWS that people are shallow and can only ever like a character that looks exactly like them because of validation. Y'know I wonder if HE practices what he preaches and can love a nonwhite character that doesn't look like him. No reason I'm asking. Apparently, BIPOC people are physically unable to like white/white coded characters at all and this new trend of making people specific races is inherently bad for us on principle. I guess.

Nuff' snark. The reason racelifting an originally white character is not the same thing as whitewashing an originally BIPOC character is that whitewashing was and still is a common practice and white supremacy is still oppressive. It's NOT comparable to racelifting and 'reverse racism' and yeah you are just being a megaracist by suggesting we "make Tiana white" out of 'revenge' for this kind of approach to representation. Making a white character into a BIPOC one is not a guarantee to making them 'fixed' or 'better'(see also: 'Rowling loves black Hermonie'. Shaun and Princess Weekes know their Potter-cred). It's really sh!tty of people to assume otherwise and that we, the audience wanting representation and new stories, have no taste and will eat up anything placed before us.

Velma and Santa Inc would never be hated as much as they are if they weren't genuinely terrible. If anything this kind of sacrificial trash is frustrating BECAUSE it would be nice representation if they didn't suck: they are. Velma and Shaggy being nonwhite in that show should even be on the list of things wrong with Velma, and, if it's on YOUR list, then you're a bad critic with bad priorities. No one wants or needs your opinions on anything.

As a fan of the original film I'll admit it hurts to hear so many people talk about the new Little Mermaid being 'innovative' and 'good actually when it's...not. I'm sorry but nothing I've seen of these movies ever makes me want to watch it. Peete's Dragon and Christopher Robin are highkey the only Disney remakes that appear to have some kind of a soul and that in itself is soul crushing. The problem with Disney remakes is that they are just ip dictation with no real vision behind them- NOT that they decided to be progressive or give og 'white' roles to BIPOC actors. Retelling new versions of a familiar story has been done for years- I've seen a black woman play Belle in a production of the BatB stage play. Get used to people of color existing. Also get used to people (however successfully) talking about societal issues that you think were invented yesterday. They've always been here, you just weren't paying attention. If anything; I'm mad on the part of Halle Baily. She does look like a good Ariel. Halle's Ariel deserved better but sadly everything else about the film, including how the character is written, shows me that Disney wasted her Ariel just as they did Alan Menken's new songs; they didn't care about them. They rushed the film and that doesn't make me want to give the film a chance. If anything that just makes me infuriated on their behalf. And, to take some words out of the 'anticriticisms' playbook, I'm not going to watch something that makes me mad the whole way through.

Anyway, Stonetoss- you deserve to have your identity leaked and also your art is garbage. I made the post months ago and am only now going over it myself because I forgot I even made it.

[gloriaris]

OUTSOURCING FOR HELP WRITING A POC CHARACTER

hello tumblr! i am an aspiring white screenwriter, and I am asking for help with my Black main character.

ive already tried to do research on hair types and hairstyles for when I draw her, and I have decided on this progression, which I need feedback on. I have white-people curls (3b) and need feedback on 4b to 4c hair.

1 - the character is living with abusive parents, and chemically straightens her hair

2 - The character has been kicked out and is living with her toxic girlfriend. she also maintains this look while on the run in a murder case (although she has access to any product she wants due to a friend's magical abilities)

3 - After death of a close friend. No longer has access to products. I don't know how high-maitenence Afros are.

4 - After-story; she has gotten her life together. She shaved her head to get rid of her matted hair and let free-form locs grow in (I don't know if that's the correct term, or way it grows).

Other advice that would help:

I have lived with an abusive parent before, but if you have any advice on generational trauma and how it manifests in POC households it would be greatly appreciated.

I've also tried to do research on harmful stereotypes to avoid, but any further stereotypes to avoid would be amazing. I have a brief explanation of her personality below that's open to criticism.

The story greatly hinges on the fact that her toxic girlfriend smokes weed and generally is a user, thereby leaving her vulnerable to manipulation by a Christian organization. This character is Mexican. Neither the fact that she's Mexican or the fact she's a user can be changed because of the nature of the story. If there are any stereotypes I should avoid with this character, or recommendations for writing an addict, please reblog with them! In addition, this story includes references to the Day of the Dead, and it's been so whitewashed I can't find solid resources on that either.

Above character is redeemed later. How can I write her as toxic but with the potential for redemption?

Also any general advice, or icks you have for BIPOC characters.

thank you in advance, tumblr!

(character description: Lorelei is stoic and doesn't like to show much emotion. She doesn't like people, and mainly chooses to be by herself. The friends she makes talk to her first, and once she has a good friend, she is devastatingly loyal.)

[nose-bl]

i feel like the reason why some people get so worked up about queer characters being played by cishet (assumed or confirmed) actors is partly because they're applying the same rules that are applied to disabled and BIPOC characters. because yes, when it comes to, say, a Black character, of course you can't cast a white actor. that would be either whitewashing if they make the character white, or blackface if they make the white actor look Black. we all know that is incredibly racist. or when it comes to autistic characters, casting allistic actors to play these characters can quickly become a mockery of autistic traits like it happened in Sia's movie (which wasn't only due to the actress being allistic but also the fact that Sia just......wrote a shit and offensive movie and the actress didn't have a good base to go from)

but when it comes to queer characters these same rules don't apply, not exactly. a cishet actor can play a queer character and can pretend to be this other person, without it being a mockery, without it being offensive. if the actor understands the character and understands queerness, they can do a perfect job

for some people, a cis person playing a trans person of a different gender is very offensive bc it can fall under the stereotype that trans people are just their assigned gender but in disguise to get something (e.g. how trans women are assumed to just be men dressed as women to attack other women, and shit like that). and i agree, to an extent. it can be harmful. but it can also be dealt with very respectfully. an example i like to give is adam from degrassi. while i don't completely like the trans rep in the show (i love it but i also have issues with it hmmm), i do not mind that the trans boy was played by a woman. that didn't affect the quality of the representation at all and, to me at least, it didn't feel offensive

while i agree queer actors deserve more chances and it's really cool when queer characters are played by queer actors, we NEED to stop obsessing over it because we will either harrass a cishet person who is doing a very genuine and good job, who is being respectful, or we might be harrassing closeted queer people

[just-antithings]

Just my thoughts and theories based on my experience in mob-like behavior, but one of the primary issues with antis is they actively encourage an escalatory pattern of behavior and reward it socially. No one is allowed to just calmly say, "Let's tone it down a notch. Okay, we don't want to see it. We have moral and ethical objections, but let's just tone it down."

To do so would be completely contrary to the constant sense of predatory urgency they put themselves in. Their circles are constantly in trauma-bond mode.

Everything in their lexicon is hostile, and they use the justification that it is reasonable to be hostile towards an attack, even preemptively.

Socially, they subsist on a reward system beyond exclusionary and right into the realm of offensive, not just in the sense of someone's sensibilities being what is offensive, but in the sense of harmfully offensive actions. Every notch one of them ratchets upwards is to be exceeded by the next.

If there is any effort to be eloquent at all, they make their arguments like Ben Shapiro. They are a herd of feral horses gish galloping all at once. They use words that have been programmed into the progressive mindset to alter thought, provoke consideration, and when suggested from a framing of speaking as or on behalf of a marginalized group, feeds on guilt to shut down discourse. They disguise their lack of critical thought behind these buzzed keywords, fully seeking to shock their audience into submission and whip up the masses.

They speak against whitewashing, but they also erase the existence within those communities. They lecture about what the features of a specific ethnicity should look like, while erasing that there is diversity. They go into great details to point out and explain that specific traits are inherently white, and leave no room that not only may that be native within the native culture, but many of these cultures are now mixed, and it is who these people are as well. They lecture ostensibly to advocate for characters and actors of colors, but ignore that many of these actors are, in fact, intermixed with what is traditionally

I am in the Star Wars The Clone Wars fandom. Every day, they erase me, my people's experience, and I am not the only one who has felt that way. But, by in large, we are too afraid to say something. Because these people have created an entire following built on this.

We are people who aren't one vision of what it means to be our people, so we are erased. The closest representations we have are the mutants and not the "regular," and have pernicious campaigns that advocate for their erasures... which essentially erases us.

Words like fetishization, sexualization, white-washing... all these words have no meaning out of these people, except to tighten their grip and hold on people. They get to weaponize their identities, and in turn, has erased the representation of others with such fervor that we are scared to speak up. They are established such a foothold with their campaigns that what good is it to try and speak up?

They feed off-white guilt and keep them trapped with anger and fear. Whether they themselves are BIPOC or not, they have not only established that their voices are more informed than well-meaning white people, but are the only ones that exist and we... are a non-entity. Never mind how many of them live in the US, Europe... and how many of us live in these formerly colonized lands, who live with the effects of colonization.

Colonization goes well beyond the color of someone's skin, the shape of their nose. It goes on how eugenics have tried to breed us out. How our women, especially what was seen as our attractive women, were set aside exclusively for the colonizers.

Our tribes and native Empires were broken apart, forced to conform to a European's standard of ethics and morals. Though these are a fictional representation, many of us have noticed that these attractive, brown men, are exclusively set aside for the availability for those outside of their tribe. They enforce their concepts of what is moral and immortal, without consideration that perhaps those within the tribe do not want to step outside their tribe.

Representative features of intermixed examples are deemed irredeemably whitewashed, too European, and they write very precise guides to tell artists how to erase examples that represent peoples who come from and live in native lands that were victimized by colonization.

The sins of colonization continue, and they show their privilege by knowing better than us. On one hand, they claim to be advocates. Some even share our ethnicities, yet they clearly show how well they have actually assimilated into the Imperial West with how they make us caricatures, how they silence us, how they know better than us.

They silence others. They take our voice. They erase our images. They control our decision-making.

Our existence doesn't matter to them because we are an inconvenient truth. Our truth doesn't uphold their power. It doesn't uplift the social capital they have built on.

They are no better than the Imperialist. Once again, we exist in shadows, in closed communities, afraid to be outed because we do not agree with the system of power they have created in our communities. They hold on tight with fear, anger, and a lot of pseudo-intellectual word wrangling and become token BIPOC making whites feel better because they listened to that iron voice. They benefit from white privilege because they make the dutifully obedient white feel good about themselves for being such a good listener, for becoming so informed, and once again... that Imperial privilege subjugates and silences others.

The non-BIPOC listen to their message, are afraid of not falling in line, afraid of listening to any other voices, and go to bed feeling better about themselves because they are doing what they are told. They spread the message, they become a hostile and hostile mob that enforces the message, and are so confident they know better when they know nothing.

Imperialism and colorism strikes again.

I started this out intending to be vague without any reference to any fandom or fan community. But, as my heart began to break all over again, my frustration flared up again, I had to come clean.

.

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

(Note: All of these asks are before episode 206 (Season 2 finale) so some may be dated.) 1. The wild part to me about the "Persephone got approved Underworld citizenship" is it took what, a week at most? Even if you want to use IRL Royal examples, someone like Megan Markle would (if she had kept up the process) still need two YEARS to get approved of it at minimum which includes a lot of paperwork and staying in the country for prolonged time, but Persephone gets it in a few days with no process? Is there really nothing Persephone doesn't get handed to her on a silver platter?

2. "How to be a woke misogynistic :Add white before woman" I think this anon was tryna call antis misogynistic?? Which like. Some of the "criticism" ive seen is just people using lo as an excuse to be misogynistic against rs but most of it is genuine idk what they're going on abt 😭

3. ya know for claiming to be a "loving and supportive fandom with no drama" lo fans are by far the most cruel set of bullies i've ever seen, and I've been in a LOT of intense fandoms. and I can't even handwave these fans as just dumb kids, many of them are adult women who made a mid webcomic their entire world and would rather get a power high off the harassment and bullying of others who dare no obsess over what they do while still thinking they're "feminists". it's so weird 💀

4. Lol I love that the person typed that 'regular' people just drop it and move on when they dislike something. Apparently you're no longer a regular person for disliking and discussing a piece of media 😔

Anyway, LO can bite it. It's misogynistic and an insult to Greek culture among many other glaring flaws. The giant red flag of an age gap and power dynamic between them is one hell of a thing to defend y'all, and it's also a hell of a thing to praise 1 character for cheating but cheer on another character for doing the exact same thing 🙃🙃🙃

Also it's incredibly funny to me how LO stans are so so aggressive and condescending to us about disliking it when we're just minding our own business?? We ain't talking to you nor do we go out of our way to mess with your tags (tumblr is tumblr, y'know) unlike a few of y'all that I've seen specifically use the anti tag to start shit like a bunch of brats. We'll continue minding our own business talking about LO with both non-fans and fans who actually want to have a discussion instead of mindlessly praising it, and y'all should mind your own business. 

5. This comic loves to claim it’s pro sexuality, pro kink, and pro female empowerment AND anti purity culture yet loves nothing more than framing sex outsides of Hades as bad, loves to push Purity culture to make Persephone look like the best woman ever, loves tearing other women down for not being the “right” type of woman, and consistently shames others’ consenting sex lives as gross and weird despite the whole comic being an obvious stretched out mess of Rachel’s office setting DDLG kink. Like??

6. I mean I get why LO Hera doesnt murder babies and all but it is an issue RS rides off "I'm not trying to be accurate!" when she makes Hades the "perfect" guy and Hera and Persephone the most desirable/amazing with zero flaws but then turns around and goes "oh well I'm being accurate!" to make Zeus be super mega awful and just make up stuff to pin on Apollo, Leto, and Thetis like?? you can't have it both ways?? Like she obvs picks and chooses who gets to be whitewashed and who doesnt.

7. Go figure LO fans to make Netflix all but closing down their entire animation department and laying off hundreds of people to STILL make it all about LO. I have countless friends who lost their jobs all en-masse with no warning and a neutered severance plan (NF purposely made it be four WEEKS instead of four MONTHS), the majority of them and their productions by BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ creators and they're only worried over well-off and employed Rachel? Fuck off. I'm so upset over this.

8. Completely and utterly disappointed at LO being nominated for an Eisner again. I think Webtoon has the power to just nominate it every year and ignore all of their other series.

9. Listen we all know every award is just marketing and we know damn well Webtoons just pumps the with money to nominate LO but we know damn well they're giving way more money to pump up their brand now because the Batman comic is so lazily made yet was ALSO nominated for best webcomic and they're like "one of our BIGGEST HITS big ethel energy is being printed!" despite it being one of their most hated series that is lampooned for bad art and writing. anyway they need to be taxed more.

10. HXP is such boring, basic mythology shipping. Get back to me when they give Isis x Osiris and Dionysus x Ariadne the respect they deserve.

[nibeul]

I just have a question in regards of the redesign of the main characters, and I just want to be able to wrap my head around it. I don't understand why taking these white characters and making them POC gives more representation. The reason I ask is because, in the end of the day, they're still white. I feel like it would make more sense to redesign already existing POC characters and fixing them to look like their actual race, for example: The martez sisters, the guerera siblings, characters from rebels and resistance. I feel like it would be more better to see existing POC designed to how they're actually supposed to look. And this is a genuine question, no "Oh you're a reverse racist" or "You're doing this to get clout." I genuinely want to know how making existing white characters into POCs is better? Or the benefits of seeing them as POCs

Yeah, no problem! I’m a little bit tired right now so my answer might be confusing, but here is how I view it:

So, for your point about redesigning already existing POC characters, I have done that too! I did it with the Bad Batch, Kanan, the clones in general, Quinlan to an extent, and I have been planning on doing it with Saw as well though don’t have much muse to draw him atm. The problem is we do not get many characters to begin with (and the ones we do are ridiculously whitewashed).

The thing with TCW is it has very. Very few BIPOC characters, the only time I have really seen any of my features in the show, the entire village was slaughtered (then with the Bad Batch, the Asian imperial and I guess Fennec but she looks really white) so uhh.. not really great rep. The reason I do a lot of these redesigns is because I personally want to see myself and other BIPOC in the media I enjoy, since we have little to no representation. With TCW, I don’t want us to just be side characters or OCs that pop up every now and then, we deserve to have stories about us that other people can see and will recognize.

Ultimately, if Disney were to come out with more shows, I wouldn’t want them to repurpose the same stories with BIPOC characters. I want to see new stories with new characters who are BIPOC and who get their own fleshed out arcs, backstories, personalities, etc. Since we do not get that, however, I redesign existing characters. Hope that makes sense :)

[overheard-at-camp-half-blood]

Ok so I love everything in the PJO universe and I found your blog and was reading through it and I was wondering what you meant by the POC’s deserve better I know it’s true but I just got confused and was hoping you could help me understand this topic better. This is coming from a POC themselves thank you so much I love your blog and how you say how you feel on all topics

So, first of all, thank you. Also, I’m sorry for not getting back to you sooner, but as I said, I’ve been busy, and I really wanted to give myself the time to give you a good answer, because I myself am white, so there isn’t much I can tell you from personal experience that would give you an in depth explanation of what’s going on.

So here is a masterlist of information about this topic that I personally found helpful when learning abo these topics. Please read through this, because BIPOC voices are the voices that matter the most, but I will give you a brief summary of each of the issues.

Some of the main issues are;

Hazel’s adultifacation. The issue is that Hazel, a black woman was made younger than everyone else, when she really didn’t have to be. This contributes to an issue in media where black girls are forced to grow up faster than other people around them. Not to mention, making Pluto look like H*tler, and making him the father of a black girl during the time of segregation was a very bad choice.

Piper’s character apparently had a lot of issues, from her appearance to her backstory, but some of the big ones include; feathers, oversexualization, cornucopia and whitewashing of her character. First, I don’t think I need to explain the issues with the feathers and the stereotypes, but also it shows a lack of understanding of the culture. Eagles in particular are sacred and are usually only worn by leaders- and they are not to be worn casually. As for oversexualizing her, it’s problematic enough considering she’s a literal child, but as stated in the post I just linked, oversexualization of indigenous woman is a huge problem in native communities. The fact that she used a cornucopia, a literal Thanksgiving symbol as a weapon is self explanatory. As for whitewashing her character, she is the only character described as mixed race. Now there’s nothing wrong with being mixed race, but the fact that this choice was made for the indigenous character in particular... that’s a problem. This in particular is problematic considering the constant erasure of indigenous people irl.

Rick also responded to criticism about Piper’s character in particular in a very problematic way. His response to being criticized was to accuse people of bullying him, and telling people to move on from being misrepresented.

Also, Rick seems to have an issue with describing BIPOC characters as... BIPOC? He erased a lot of Hazel and Piper nonwhite features, giving Hazel gold eyes and cinnamon hair, and Piper kaleidoscope eyes. They should have both had brown eyes, and Hazel should have had darker hair.

Leo was written well in the beginning, but Rick developed him into being a Mexican stereotype. First of all, the constant flirting is quite obviously stereotypical of Latinx people in general, and there is issues with the “Mamacita” line- it was addressed, but not well.

Reyna isn’t included in this post, because whoever contributed to it deleted their blog, but I have seen criticism from Puerto Rican fans that say that Reyna’s disconnection with her shows that while Reyna is technically representation for them, she was written for white people.

Aside from individual criticism, general criticism includes;

Most of the black characters have died at some point in the series- even Hazel died and came back.

Most BIPOC characters were cheated out of an arc, and most of the big parts of their internal conflicts were fixed off the page (Frank’s stick) or in someone else’s point of view (Leo’s desire to find a family).

I’m sorry, but Rick was willing to make a book about Percy & Annabeth, the characters we know the most about, but couldn’t equal out the point of views of Frank & Hazel with the rest of the seven?

Most of the Latinx characters were bilingual, when it didn’t make sense for them to be. Leo had an unstable life from childhood to his teen years, and there is no way he spent time in enough Spanish-speaking homes to develop their vocabulary. Reyna had been away from her culture for so long too, the same applies to her.

In general, I’ve noticed that both the fandom and Rick’s standards for BIPOC characters are much higher than they are for white characters. I cannot name one character of color that hasn’t been held to a different standard than other characters at some point.

Essentially, no BIPOC character was done well, and every marginalized group that was represented in some shape or form was not done well. The link also points out issues with homophobia and ableism.

The thing is, I think the reason why Rick did get away with it for so long, is because for a lot of these people it was there first time feeling represented, and at the time, there wasn’t a lot of representation to go off- but that doesn’t make it good representation in anyway shape or form. For example

This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy these books, or these characters, but it’s good to look at how these characters were treated by the narrative. There will be a tv show, which is a good chance for Rick to fix at least some of his mistakes.

Also, if there is anything my BIPOC followers would like to add on, please do. If my information is wrong, please call me out.

[burnedbyshoto]

One last unpopular opinion cause I need to get it out. tell me if I’m wrong pls. Whitewashing POC characters is 100% wrong. Why is it okay to change the race or ethnicity of a POC character? I’m talking about stuff where one of the characters isn’t Japanese anymore and they’re mostly black or occasionally some other race. If they’re making a dark skinned Japanese version I get that. But why change race/ethnicity. Isn’t that wrong too? What’s your opinion on this? Not trying to start shit I swear

I guess... hm, I will try to break down my thoughts and opinions on this. i’m not claiming i’m right, i’m merely stating this as someone who literally over thinks literally everything and anything I can. please let me know if i’ve said anything wrong or offensive as i’d like to correct it because i’m not trying to offend anyone here.

when it comes to anime specifically, westerners have this very quick ability to start saying that these characters are white. as we are all damn well aware, anime is created mostly by asian creators (japanese creators to be exact) and are often depicted to be happening in japan or in some fantasy land where terms like white, black, asian reallt don’t apply. there are some anime that take place in america, & we have anime like yuuri on ice that has multiple different countries represented, but i’d say for the most part all characters are japanese.

issues come into play when, typically seen as white people on twitter who are able to pass easily as anime characters appearance simply due to skin tone color and hair color. personally, I think anime tends to throw in funky hairstyles and hair colors and eye colors not because they’re trying to claim characters as white but because japan is a largely homogeneous country and with that they tend to have similar attributes (in which I mean hair type, eye color, and hair color). the lack of color diversity can lead media to look especially dull, for lack of better words, so mangaka & anime creators make these characters have every colored hair, eyes, and sometimes make them bipoc in the world and hair type to create visual contrast, engagement, and highlight important characters.

however, we westerners are quite self centered & think if a japanese character has blonde hair and blue eyes it makes them white! meaning that should white people cosplay this blonde hair and blue eyes character it’s okay! and due to racism, whenever poc individuals — especially black cosplayers — attempt their own version, they’re attacked with how the character isn’t whatever race the cosplayer is and are overall scum bags. the character isn’t even white the mass majority of the time either so I don’t understand the anger they have over that detail except they’re racist pigs.

now, about the race bending, I think it’s because we westerners want to see ourselves within these characters. they’re like headcanons, if you will. just like you might headcanon bakugou to eventually become hard of hearing or deaf, or how you headcanon that midoriya izuku will lose all his limbs and need a robot arm and legs, these are just personal headcanons that make the character more tuned to how everyone wishes them to be.

now this is a western issue so i speak largely for america.

the underlying issue, I think, is racism. white people, whether they like it or not, have a social advantage over everyone. things will always sort of be for them, look like them, accept them. white people will never have to wonder if the newest movie coming out will have a poc lead because they tend to have it be white people. white people never have to worry about if their foundation color is in stock or even exists in the first place because the system makes it so that it’s there for them, or if not, it’s just two blocks away. white people don’t have to worry about if they will see a face that looks like them on all forms of media because european standards are whats it. we are curated in a society where we should want the lighter hair, the lighter skin, the lighter eyes, the button nose, and thin figure. & I understand that beauty standards and ideas are shifting, but if you’re unable to see that people used to shame, put down, and harass other people for having such traits before (and even still right now harass people for having the features they want as well), I guess you’re one of the naive few.

now, because in western countries, not being able to see yourself in any characters on the tv shows (with real people or animated), some people choose to simply take it into their own hands. so they take their favorite characters and decide that they’ll give it a spin to make it look like them. I don’t think anyone really bends the race and goes “damn they should really be fucking latino, what a waste they’re not!” because I really don’t think anyone’s that...intense???? that’s not the right word, but I can’t seem to find it rn. it’s simply for fun and to show other people who also don’t see themselves in these forms of media a way in!

most importantly, I think, is that when characters are turned into different ethnicities it’s other people who come out and say they’re doing it wrong & taunt them with how they would feel if they turned someone white. if i’m being especially honest, most anime characters could definitely be white in my eyes had I never known it originates from japan simply because of the way they’re drawn. they’re putting down people who are simply expanding their creativity and wanting to see a familiar face because western media continues to fail in serving its largely ethnic population.

personally, I don’t think we westerners have the right to demand more black, latino, arabic, whatever characters in anime because the fact is japan owes us nothing. we should be demanding and continuing to harass america to include poc characters because we aren’t involved in japan. (& i’m not saying that japan should just continue to serve only pure japanese characters because they do have their own intermixed population that isn’t just of japanese decent, but I think if they want us to aid their voices i’m here for it, but I won’t be the one demanding anything from a country that isn’t mine when it comes to this form of media. )

so, to me, the reason why it’s okay for poc to change the race but not white people is because racism in america lol. white people got it good on screen & the fact that it really really bothers some people is a bit scary considering the stats on how many movies and tv shows involve main white casts.

my unpopular opinion to all this, however, is I really dislike latino!sero because the spanglish people use for him makes me think that no one writing him is actually any type of latino & i’m sorta tired and a bit offended by the sexy latin lover thing. plus it sorta seems to me that my fellow latinos only use that trope because white people think it’s hot & since they carry more weight then they think; creators keep it up to seem cool or whatever idk. so it’s not my cup of tea as a mexicana 😗✌🏽

edit:

I also think when people race bend characters to other forms of poc it’s a positive expression and something done to make people happy! but typically when the characters are bent to be “white” it’s done as an attack in a way towards poc people & not done because they want to be included in a world, ya know?

[leviskokoro]

To the anon who sent an ask about a certain post that was racist: I decided to make a separate post on the topic because I didn’t really want the person in question to be attacked for what admittedly something I feel was a very stupid decision.

Heavy Disclaimer: I do not know the absolute full situation since the person deleted the post but I will comment on a few things the person has said because there’s sort of a lot to unpack.

The post was a very angry rant about how Disney casted Rachel Zegler, a Latina for Snow White and have made points that I frankly don’t agree with.

“Colorwashing” isn’t actually a thing

So— you might be wondering, “But whitewashing is a thing! How come the reverse doesn’t exist?” Well... If you looked at the definition of whitewashing in merriam-webster dictionary, you'd find a list of meanings. One of them means "to alter (something) in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people:". Then there's a list that goes further beyond.

Whitewashing goes beyond just having a poc character become white. It involves trying to erase the crimes that white people have done to bipoc. One of the meanings of whitewashing is this: "to portray (the past) in a way that increases the prominence, relevance, or impact of white people and minimizes or misrepresents that of nonwhite people"

Also- if you looked at the etymology of whitewashing, it says this:

To whitewash implies that being poc means that you're "filthy" and that you were being "washed" if you got whitewashed.

Colorwashing doesn't actually exist because 1. Colorwashing ignores the real meanings of whitewashing, 2. The term doesn't really make any sense if you were to compare it to what the etymology actually means

"So...it's okay for someone who's not white to play a role that's originally played by a white person, but when a white person plays a role that's originally played by any other ethnicity it's immediately racist?"

The problem with this is that white people already have a lot of proper representation. You're way, WAY, more likely to encounter white people being represented in a proper way without any sort of harmful stereotype attached to them than to encounter this being done for poc folk. There's always going to be more videos and essays about how there are harmful stereotypes, tropes, fetishization, etc attached to how poc people can be presented in media than there will ever be for white people. Why? Because white people are the ones with the power and privilege, not poc. POC are the ones that suffered at the hands of white people, the ones that were enslaved, killed, and underwent all sorts of violence because of their race.

Thoughts on Disney casting Rachel Zegler for Snow White

To be absolutely brutally honest, I don't care for live action Disney movies anymore. I've seen how they massacred Lion King and Mulan. This means that I don't exactly have high hopes for live action Snow White.

But on the topic of her being a Latina, I can see that people would think "Snow White should be white". However, I don't really see a problem with her being Latina? Like, it doesn't really change anything in the plot, does it? Even if it does, I would prefer to have some things changed in a tasteful manner than to have it be blandly the same thing but in "live action" form and also worse (coughLionKingcough).

Ending Notes

If you know who I'm talking about, please do NOT send them hate or death threats. I understand the anger over the racism the post had and it's valid, but what isn't valid is sending harmful threats and hate.

You're free to add onto my statements in asks or in reblogs but all I ask is that you practice respect.

[themoonsbeloved]

Anyway I would highly suggest you all pick up a non-fictional book and google to learn about whitewashing, race, racism and racial representations and misrepresentations in fantasy/fictional worlds. No fictional fantasy race such as faes, elves, dwarves, and beastmen are just magically conjured up and not inspired by and most often historically underpin racist notions against real life people, their cultures, and dehumanisation of said people. Nothing exists in a vaccum, that goes for fiction and fantasy too. Cannot believe how much we have to repeat this. 

Also rich manga artists and corporations who have profited off of these racist tropes do not need our (BIPOC) respect. They are not immune to racism and racial bias (like everyone else), nor do they deserve an applause for doing whatever bare-minimum standard YOU have placed them on a pedestal for. But also, if you’re not a BIPOC then just, listen to us for once rather than constantly thinking you have the position on what we as minorities should and shouldn’t complain about in fandom spaces (especially Black fans). 

Finally, if you’re more angry about being called racist than you are on acknowledging criticisms of reoccurring racist tropes and themes which impact and harm certain people, your concern isn’t nearly as much about the well-being of people as you think it is. We don’t call people racist for choosing to stick to the canon character designs, we call people racist for whitewashing (lightening) dark-skinned characters from their original canon skintone. Do your research on these actual topics before making claims because you only look like a fool to every ethnic minority in the fandom.  

This goes without saying but this post is still personal and intended for venting on my blog and my mutuals/followers to see so like, dont reblog it. 

[aye-write]

So this might be a bigger question than just for writing but I had about characters. So in my current WIP, the Big Bad is revealed to be my single black main character (which is a problem in itself). I had the thought of making them a warlock-type character with an evil god entering their mind. But still, the fact that my one black character is revealed as the main antagonist doesn't quite sit well with me. What are you thoughts? Should I rework the character? Should the twist be reworked?

Hi friend! 

I’ll preface this immediately by saying I am not a POC at all, so please take what I say with a grain of salt as I am aware I am coming from a position of more privilege. If there are any of my followers you would like to weigh in, I will 100% do my best to amplify your words and opinions of course. I do not speak for everyone and all of the following is just my opinion.

That being said, there is something about this that doesn’t sit well with me, and the fact that you’re coming to ask advice at all, I think, suggests that you’re aware of it too. I think having the antagonist be the ONLY black character does a lot to perpetuate the “black aggressor stereotype”. 

Again, I am a white person so I will not say I have the definitive answers, but what I might suggest is this. While a black character can be an antagonist, you may think about how you treat black characters outside of this. If you don’t have any other black characters, then that gives an impression - whether you want it to or not. There may also be issues with the whole “evil god” entering their mind thing, as again, it may seem like you’re painting the black character to be the only one weak-willed or vulnerable, but I don’t know enough about your story to know. I can only go off the impression and the possible interpretations therein. 

What I’ll always suggest about the single black character (or gay character or what have you), whether it’s killing them off or making them the villain, is to include more POC in your work. 

Someone else in another post described this 1000% times more elegantly than me, but I can’t remember the post so I’ll paraphrase.

If you have ten characters, and only one of them is black, and they’re the villain, that that means 100% of your black characters are evil. And 100% of your white characters are not. Your intentions don’t matter at this stage, people will see this and they will perhaps see themselves in the shoes that single black character who is personified evil, while the white characters are once again seen as good and safe and kind and angelic.  

BUT if you change this main cast around, and perhaps include more black characters, then that can change things. So instead of 100% of your black characters being villains, maybe 75% of them are not. It’s not perfect, but it is a way of avoiding the trope of “evil black aggressor”. 

I would suggest as well maybe looking into sensitivity readers, educating yourself on how black people and POC are treated in mainstream media, etc. I also have this resource that you can have a look at - all the tropes to AVOID when you want to be considerate of race and POC folks.

Transcript underneath as I’m aware this is quite small and tumblr likes to munch quality. You may need to zoom right in on mobile!

Westernised Whitewashed World: Fantastical or futuristic eurocentric worlds containing little to no people of colour.

Cultural Appropriation: Adoption of elements of culture without authentic context

Exotic Other: Character who is stereotyped and exoticized due to their racial or cultural otherness. 

Monocultures: Oversimplifying races to have 1-2 traits

Doomed BIPOC Sidekick: Character who serves as shallow foil and is often sacrificed

Placeholder BIPOC: Character described as diverse who could be replaced by any other type of character with no change to the story 

Dark Skinned Aggressor: Savage, uncivilised dark-skinned character or race used as an aggressive antatonist

Mystical BIPOC - Character with magical or spiritual powers due to their race or religion

White Saviour: Displaced hero who finds themself among a culture or group in need of saving. 

[valarin-sunstorm]

I support BIPOC

If you read nothing else of my post, please take note of these links.

Donate to Black Lives Matter

Donate to Black Visions Collective

Donate to Communities United Against Police Brutality

Donate to Campaign Zero

Donate to Innocence Project

I don’t really know how to talk about this concisely. I guess the first thing I can say is that I feel heartbroken for just a lot of reasons. I’ll try my best to get my thoughts out. I don’t even exactly know what I’m trying to say.

I wish to issue a statement of support to BIPOC. I wish to condemn not only racism, but colorism. I want to share my experience as a non-black POC. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to call myself that as someone who is biracial. I do not wish to detract from the struggles of the Black community. Rather, I want to share my experiences with the understanding that I still have a lot of privilege, but I also have a desire to stand in solidarity. Maybe this will be informative and help others to understand the pervasive nature of racism, and how tiring and hurtful it is.

I will be discussing racism, internalized racism, police brutality, and abuse.

I’m half Mexican. I haven’t really told more than a couple of people on here that. I’m white-passing by virtue of damaging myself. For decades I hated my skin. I thought I was ugly. Unsophisticated looking. I didn’t look like my white family members. I didn’t look like the white community around me. The only person who looked like me was my father and my eldest brother, who I had little social contact with. I have not gone into the sun for decades. I tried to bleach my skin. An endocrinologist told me that my vitamin D levels were on par with someone with severe malnutrition, and I had to be put on medication. Now I am pale in the way someone sick is pale. It mitigated some but not all racist comments.

I no longer live with my white mother. That’s a good thing. She had nothing but contempt for me on several levels. That’s weird, isn’t it? I think she liked my father by virtue of how whitewashed he was made to be. In the 1950s his family lived in a U.S. Naval base in Peru, though they were of Mexican origin. His first language was Spanish. They moved to America in the 1960s. He was made to assimilate into white culture and stop speaking Spanish. He doesn’t speak it anymore. My mother says it’s not a "pretty language.”

My father worked overseas for most of my childhood. I was raised by my white mother. My paternal grandfather died long before I was born, and my paternal grandmother died when I was young. We called her “Grandma Tina.” No one ever told me her real name. I found out it was Eutimia. I guess that was too 'ethnic’ for people to say. No one ever told me I was Mexican. I just looked different and I didn’t know why. I hated everything about how I looked.

My father became chronically ill in the past decade. He requires daily medication or he will quite literally die. A few years ago, he was having a medical crisis and trying to get home. The police pulled him over and arrested him for driving under the influence, despite the fact that he was not intoxicated and had passed their breathalyzer test. He was taken into police custody. My mother took me in a panic down to the precinct to collect him or at the very least give him some of his medicine. It was midnight. We arrived and the police officer regarded my mother with a smug smile. We could not visit my father because visiting hours were over. We could not bail him out because of the time of night. He would not allow her to give him the medicine, and assured us there was a medical facility on location. My mother tried to yell at the cop. I had to pull her away. I was afraid of how things would escalate, and how she could have made things worse for my father. The medical staff did not tend to my father. When we bailed him out the following morning, he was nearly dead. Much longer and he would have gone into organ failure.

Yesterday, my mother made a bigoted facebook posts condemning the BLM protests with no self-awareness about the abuse of power that had nearly cost my father his life. I spoke out against her publicly. I’ve always been scared of her. Even though I no longer live with her. She’s more abusive emotionally and mentally than I feel like I’ve even letting on. I feel like I can’t say she was truly abusive because she only beat me with a hairbrush once, and I feel like I deserved it. I am still closeted as gay and trans IRL out of fear from my family and the state I live in. I guess I’ve been closeted about my ethnicity in-game too. My character is pale, but my face claim is a white-passing man of Mexican descent. Maybe that’s self-insert-y but I feel a connection to it. I don’t know how to explain it. But I do know that I want to speak up.

I want to say this now. Even if it makes me uncomfortable. Even if it makes others uncomfortable. I feel like it needs to be said. I know that as someone who has the opportunity to pass as white, I have certain privileges and a duty to speak out against racism. Silence is Violence. I plead with the members of my community to do their best to hold compassion and openness for the BIPOC around them. I hope that people keep an open heart and a willingness to change behaviors that have been harmful to the BIPOC in their communities. 

For the past three months I’ve been working 6 days a week with no end in sight due to COVID-19. I may not be completely available all the time, or completely in the loop about things. I am sorry that I have not spoken up sooner. I don’t know if this enough, or if it’s appropriate. I just want to put it out there. If anyone wishes to speak, please feel free to message me.