Y'all. Let's talk about the okey doke the authors are trying to pull in this article. Shall we? nytimes.com/2020/02/21/din… #. .
Here's the "apology" I received last night 
Now, there are a few important things to note: 1) They still aren't taking any accountability for the harm they've enacted. 2) It's pretty obvious that this isn't actually a movement or a celebration of women's voices.
3) They hope to use other black women and their own class privilege as a shield to protect them from legitimate and deserved critique around their actions.
Note that they're not asking me how they can repair the harm they've done. They're also not indicating what percentage of the proceeds will be given to the organizations I mentioned.
They use the language of movements, but their actions speak louder than their words. This is a textbook attempt to strong arm me into either complicity or silence. This is how power dynamics like this work.
It is entirely fitting that this should be happening during Black History Month because white people co-opting and trying to CYA while continuing to run with the bag is an integral and still very much active part of Black creative history.
They're only now attempting to add the voices they excluded so they can continue to center themselves. Because again, this is not about a movement. It's about White Feminism TM.
I have no issue with the contributors. In fact, some of them are people whose work I deeply admire. But the authors squandered an opportunity to truly uplift, center and celebrate women's voices.
They squandered an opportunity to lay a blueprint and blaze a trail for marginalized voices. They could have easily had a mix of emerging and established voices AND centered the work of those actually creating the movement instead of jumping on it after they'd culled the data.
Is it feminist if you're doing the same thing men in power have done? Isn't the whole point not to steamroll and exploit folks?
If it's about raising voices in celebration of the movement, why doesn't their work reflect that? Why are they now trying to use their power to push me into acquiescence? At no point did they ask me how this could serve the work.
And y'all, I am not in the least surprised that they felt comfortable co-opting this when there's an essay, Two Mothers by one of the authors in the book that does the very same thing.
In this essay, the author tells the story of her relationship as a child with her black housekeeper. How this woman modeled resilience for her as a child.
@cathyerway If this woman is like another mother to her, why didn't she ask her to tell her story? Why doesn't she know why she was mad that day?
@cathyerway Why did she center herself instead of asking her to tell her story?
@cathyerway Why don't we hear from the woman who taught her to cook and how to connect with others in meaningful ways?
@cathyerway She references Ms. Virginia's skill and rage, but didn't think to ask her where either her rage or her skill came from?
@cathyerway Be clear, y'all. If the voices of the women of color in this book are muted or silenced, it's not because I chose not to be silent in this moment. The onus and accountability like at Alford and Gunst's feet.
@cathyerway If the movement is the focus, then all our voices should be raised, all our voices should be centered and the legacies we stand in truly and genuinely recorded. It's easier to shed light on the F**kery if all of us are holding lanterns and standing side by side.
@cathyerway It is beyond f**ked up that my questioning the authors' intention and actions is being framed as detrimental to the success of other black women. But I'm not surprised. This is how power and resources are leveraged to keep the status quo.
@cathyerway Throwing black women under the bus is part of White Feminist legacy. That is not the legacy I stand in, nor will I step in that trap.
@cathyerway I encourage all of you to support all of the contributors from marginalized backgrounds directly. Put love in their corners.
