The conversation continues

by Yonmei

I was going to call this One Minute Past Midnight And The Conversation Goes On Without You, but I was too tired too late for that to be timely. Justine Larbalestier, whose books just went on my oh, I must look out for that reading list, writes about online-versus-offline-behaviour.

“Indifference doesn’t result from hostility: it derives from being so comfortably in the majority that you never have to think that a minority have different needs. Hostility enters when the majority find themselves questioned, as of right, by the minority.” -me, October 2007

In better news, Seeking Avalon announced the PoC in SF/F Carnival Special Edition: Interrogating the Text, De-Colonizing the Mind: An Intra-PoC Dialogue:

This special edition of the PoC in SF/F carnival is once again dedicated to intra-PoC dialogue. Separated by time and distance, joined by personal experience and on/offline interaction, our lives together are not always a bed of roses. In the wake of recent events, what’s next on the horizon for intra-PoC relations?

More at Seeking Avalon, with a necessary caveat: “Since People of Color (PoC) is not necessarily a universally used term, especially by fans living outside of the US, I encourage those who have other ways of defining themselves (for example, non-white, fen of pigment, chromatic) to step up and participate.” Deadline for submission: 27th March 2009 Links and questions to: ladyj dot 965 at gmail dot com.

The call is out for submissions for the first Asian Women Blog Carnival:

…there is no specific theme. I would like to highlight the diversity of Asian women and topics regarding identity in Asian majority and Asian minority cultures. Submissions can range from feminism, representation, culture, history, work, activism, beauty, health, sexuality, politics, economics, philosophy, class, education, religion, how we identify and relate to other PoC groups, personal stories etc.

Also: “Please feel free to submit your own posts or suggest good posts or links by someone else for this carnival. Submissions from from women and men of colour as well as allies are welcome. All types of work, such as essays, prose, poems, personal narratives are accepted.” Deadline for submission: 3rd April 2009. Links and questions to ciderpress.

If reading about recent events has made you feel you want to do something, besides speaking up, two charities were recommended recently in the discussion of RaceFail 09:

If you’re in the UK, Afghanaid: “has worked alongside Afghan communities for over two decades. We currently work directly with over 500,000 adults and children focusing on long term sustainable development in rural areas.” About one-fifth of their workforce in Afghanistan are women: they teach both girls and boys to read, and teach both girls and boys about their rights as children. You can make a donation here.

If you’re in the US, Books For Africa. “A simple name for an organization with a simple mission. We collect, sort, ship, and distribute books to children in Africa. Our goal: to end the book famine in Africa. Books For Africa is the world’s largest shipper of donated books to the African continent. Since 1988, Books For Africa has shipped over 20 million high-quality text and library books to 45 African countries. Millions more are needed.” You can make a donation here; if you want to donate some books, read the book donation requirements.

I mention country-specific charities because, if you live in the same country as the charity you are donating to, you can “gift aid” it (or whatever your local term is: the charity can claim the taxes you would have paid on that gift, thus increasing your donation). If people would like to suggest other appropriate charities based in other countries than the UK and the US, I’ll add them to the list.

Cease fire? Stop talking? Not now: not ever.

- More blogging by Yonmei at http://yonmei.insanejournal.com

Previous: Shutting down discussion is wrong --- Next: I will not die for your amusement

Filed under Race & Racism, activism, people of colour | Comment (0)