Thread by @funkybrownchick

The #PublishingPaidMe convos are beautiful. Lately, I keep re-upping @annbauerwriter's 2015 @Salon essay, "Sponsored by my husband". THREAD salon.com/2015/01/25/spo…

I started getting paid to write newspaper & magazine articles in 2005. It's been 15 years. Throughout it all, working other full-time jobs is what paid the bills and allowed me to keep writing.

.@annbauerwriter's essay is beautiful and striking in its openness about class & privilege in creative industries. #PublishingPaidMe

On multiple listservs, 1:1 conversations, calls, etc., as both a creative (twannahines.com) and a business owner (funkybrownchick.com), I've surfaced this conversation. #PublishingPaidMe #SupportBlackBusinesses

When we do not hire and/or adequately pay creatives, that is an #EconomicJustice issue. However, even within progressive, leftist, & radical spaces — oddly — there's a scarcity of real, on-the-record conversations about the nature of work and pay in our own space.

Yes to everything @AOC says here. And, I'd add: hire, pay fair rates, retain, promote, and don't discriminate against people in your workplace. #HireBlackPeople #BlackLivesMatter #PublishingPaidMe

(And, yes, even if your workplace is a nonprofit and/or is in the creative industry.)

Need a quick back-of-the-envelope check on the numbers? Take a look at your board, staff, consultants, subcontractors, etc. Do the faces you see — and the pay attached to each — reflect your organizational stance on #BlackLivesMatter? #HireBlackPeople #PublishingPaidMe

Another check? Name a very large, national progressive organization that supports a cause you believe in. Got one? Great. Okay, quick! Now! Go to their website. Check the "leadership", "team", or "staff" page.

In our efforts to "do" good, let's remember to actually "be" good, too. As the saying goes: "Don't just talk about it, be about it." We need to hold ourselves accountable in our own spaces, too. #HireBlackPeople #BlackLivesMatter #PublishingPaidMe