Thread by @OsmanLadan

Thanks to @melissachadburn and @paperhaus for their reporting on Anna March, wack individual and publisher of ROAR, an online magazine that primarily defrauded femmes and people of color fw.to/AaX4tUJ

Allies and accomplices can show up several ways: help us build safety nets for freelancers, report March's crowdfunding campaigns, HIRE talented creatives of color and femmes like @chen_anchi @MekitaRivas @julia @robottomulatto @jagjeet_khalsa @over35million @LaurelLynnLeake

I edited for ROAR from April 2017-December 2017. I resigned Jan 6. I wasn't paid for the first four months, and received late/fragmented payments after I quit. I'm owed more than $4000.

Why did I stay on? Are we pretending artists, editors, consultants, cultural producers, contracted educators, etc are paid on time? That this gig economy doesn't flout us with the instability we "deserve?" Our work is too often treated as fancy.

I wasn't aware Anna March was the literary version of J. Wellington Wimpy.

And in an April 6, 2018 email to ROAR staff, Anna claimed if I reported her, she couldn't pay anyone back.

It was a struggle to read her emails, which is the point. Distraction, manipulation, errors, stench of gaslights, frenzy.

Anna March's expertise is in cultural and intellectual mining. Like so many editors and tastemakers, she positions herself as "Presenting!" artists of color. Ol WB frog ass. She preyed upon the trust we have FOR EACH OTHER, not for her.

I'm a visual learner. Maybe you are, too. Here are screenshots from Anna March's deleted IG (captured 06/29/18). I've captioned them with excerpts from her emails to staff, written on the same day or time period: "HI I'M DROWNING UNTIL THE WEEKEND. DROWNING." (July 4)

This is Anna on my birthday last year, drinking up my gotdamn paycheck @Middlebury. No quote needed!

Images posted Oct 26-29. Email: "...just too tired to write a thoughtful response to you all." (midnight Oct 30)

[I was too startled to screenshot the winter buffet of fine cheeses she posted from France during the 2017-18 winter holiday. See @melissachadburn's description of the shitshow at Julia Child's house.]

Images posted Jan 1-4. Email: "let's talk next week -- i am drowning and trying to figure out how to get a bit of time to catch my breath." (Jan 3)

Is Anna March a sea urchin? How does she survive all this DROWNING?

I never handled funds. I never received clear information about payments or payment schedules. She promised in writing to reveal a clear accounting of where crowdfunding and donated funds were spent, and to send a payment schedule for each employee and contributor.

If she had Pinocchio's enchantment, she wouldn't be allowed outside barefaced cuz the scene would be lewd af.

Anna March has committed to sending promissory notes and agreed to comply with civil claims to recover wages. But you need an addy to serve someone. The address she gave for March Media belonged to her local post office. There was no PO Box.

I wonder why anyone would mess with a neurotic immigrant? After searching public records in Rehoboth Beach, I found her current address and spoke to her landlord, who told all her business at the mention of her name.

Part of what makes people like Anna March attach themselves to POC is the exact thing they hope will prevent justice for us. People like her assume no one will vouch for us, believe us, assist us. She trusts that what admits her is our obstacle.

We want to walk, talk, laugh, congregate, unlock doors, barbecue, sell water, sell loose cigarettes, build a dream, reunite with our loved ones, execute a vision of human thriving BUT racism, colorism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia hunt. And you are shot for running

I contacted state and federal agencies, the courts, and her local police force. For obvious reasons, I was very uncomfortable doing so. Identity privilege is so powerful, that even inquiry and movement towards restitution is seen as aggressive.

You might be surprised at how hard it is to pursue legal action against this type of crime. You might be surprised at how few safety nets exist for freelancers.