THIS. THIS. THIS.
In my 3-year anniversary at @TheHillTimes, 5 years writing about #cdnpoli from marginalized perspectives, 5 years podcasting about politics, policy and pop culture with @badandbitchy. More people told me I couldn't do it because they couldn't see the vision 🧵
Most people told me that I'd ruin my career if I talked about race, white women and even said the word "white" pertaining to people. I've been doing this #onhere a long time and they were wrong. Why was I right? Because I knew the country I lived in better than them and...
...I knew there were A LOT of others who shared similar buckets of experiences as me. I also knew the conversations amongst marginalized communities were not the same convos in traditional (white) spaces. 5 years later the #ottawaoccupation and myriad of Twitter spaces erected...
...to talk about he occupation were disgustingly white and when BIPOC expressed our issues we were treated like our issues were secondary to the "serious issues" at play. I remember a @caj Twitter space about the occupation took this approach: BIPOC issues were secondary
So where are we supposed to go? Traditional news media hasn't made much progress to diversify and still 5 years later there's A LOT of space to do so. Honestly that's why I'm excited about what @TheResolveNews is doing. This country has been strangled by trad news long enough...
The white men in charge at @FinanceCanada told me I couldn't write. Joke's on you!
All this to say: if your gut tells you this is something, do it! Don't ask permission and only ask advice in terms of refinement of your idea/project. Good ideas don't come from white men in institutions, they come from us, those who are traditionally told we ain't shit.
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Alright. I'm on the @blackvotecanada webinar with provincial leaders speaking to the Black community. @CBCAdrianH is moderating. I'm asking an audience question. Here we go. @AndreaHorwath is first. Lemme live-tweet this 🪡
She called out @fordnation for not showing up and I can’t disagree. She talks the unequal impact of the pandemic, systemic racism. Yet doesn’t talk about the police. She tells us that Ford doesn’t give a fuck about Black people. Says the @OntarioNDP does #ontpoli
The @OntarioGreens dude needs better audio. But also calls out @fordnation for not showing up. But does talk about the police. Spends a lot of time acknowledging his privilege in the face of Black ppl’s experiences. This is not a value judgement just reporting #ontpoli
I find it interesting that for someone who has worked on a few budgets, in fiscal policy at Finance Canada, and an economist, I got one media spot for #Budget2022. Just goes to show that Black women aren't called to talk about important matters like money in #cdnmedia or #cdnpoli
If #cdnmedia really wants to diversify then they need to rethink what "experts" look like. And #cdnmedia has determined that people who can speak on issues of finance and economics aren't Black women like myself. There is no representation there #Budget2022
I've even done budget lockup 2 or 3 times. Did @CBCNews@CTVNews or @globalnews reach out?
NOPE.
Apparently Black women can only talk about Black things and not about "serious" topics. That is the media bias some of us talk about and it's discriminatory #CdnMediaFailed
So I was at Palm Sunday service and in the reading it noted that when Jesus came before Herod he kept his mouth shut. See? EVEN JESUS KEPT HIS MOUTH SHUT IN THE FACE OF COPS 🤐
If it’s good enough for Jesus to really take that eff the police stance it’s good enough for me.