📌—So I want to (gently) talk about how hard but important it is for people to signal boost marginalized creators & strengthen their connections, & why it may be potentially unfair to expect that signal boosting solely from other, established marginalized voices. Thread…
I can’t say this is in reply to a thing, because even though it is, it isn’t a callout of the person/event/project which catalysed this thought in my mind. It’s just an observation, triggered by observing it here. I won’t mention what that trigger is.
What a lot of people are noticing now in creative industries (I’m talking the little I can see of publishing ofc) is that if you are straight and/or white and/or male and live in the US or Anglophone Europe, you kinda have it made in the shade.
But a lesser-observed thing in our desire to address that visibility problem is how that power and connection grows. Namely, if you’re privileged & established, & you know someone now trying to break through, that new creator benefits from their connection to you.
Of course, you can’t control who you know; no one is saying one should try. But being aware of the power of their association to you and how that advantage may reinforce levels of inequality is important, methinks.
Say you’re an established YA novelist with lots of beloved books under your belt & a strong, critical voice. Say you personally know someone working on a project right now.
Inadvertently, you have opened a door for them before they even know who is on its other side.
Inadvertently, you have opened a door for them before they even know who is on its other side.
That’s power. And you didn’t really think hard about having it. You just do, because people trust you & you’re hypervisible. Your critical voice and beloved fan base is almost assuredly going to widen to theirs, & they will grow in status in the industry as a result of it.
None of this is a comment on quality. Maybe their book is legit worthy of the shot.
But in some imperceptible way, they got the shot at all because you, Privileged Creator, are hypervisible and have never missed your own shots. People trust you, so they open the door to them.
But in some imperceptible way, they got the shot at all because you, Privileged Creator, are hypervisible and have never missed your own shots. People trust you, so they open the door to them.
A lot of marginalized creators will never get the same chance, or, even when given some public visibility as a result of connection to you, will have to work twice as hard regardless.
Enter the Signal-Boost. There are a lot of opportunities, some personal, some competitive, designed specifically to allow creators the ability to leverage their visibility to lift up little guys. But many of them seem to be insular kinds of spaces.
Lots of PoC having to vouch for each other. Lots of women having to vouch for each other. Lots of ‘Global Southern’ spaces having to vouch for their own. All, very often, to audiences of equally marginalized persons, or to the mainstream specifically as marginalized persons.
Another thing is that if you can’t find a way to develop relationships with the mainstream because of distance, finances, physical ability, or other restraints, often the internet is barely enough to increase your visibility.
This is one of the reasons I can’t speak highly enough of @con_or_bust—if you live too far away from a landmark con in your industry, or it costs too much, you could lose a chance to network, but initiatives like this can ease that pressure.
But I can’t help but feel it also means there is an increased value in promoting the work of new creators making dope things who can benefit from being seen.
But they can’t all just be hashtags coming from within their communities. There has to be an effort from privileged creators and gatekeepers to use the social value of their endorsement to prop up newer folks.
Lots of people reap that benefit all the time. A brief association or short compliment about a new creator’s work in a public platform can mean the difference between dozens of fans and hundreds, between a few rare commissions and regular paying work.
I don’t mean to imply that anything I’m saying is news, but I do think that means it’s more necessary than ever for creators with privilege and hypervisibility to leverage those things to grow the culture and help some folks eat.
Because the networks between straight/white/male top-billing creators & their straight/white/male upstarts already exist, and have been reaping dividends the whole time. But also because there’s a little guy you know has talent right now, & even you wonder why no one’s noticed.
I also don’t mean to imply that many creators aren’t doing this in their own ways. Boosting people’s Patreons and mentioning their work in FollowFriday threads are but two seemingly small but mighty big ways to boost—I’ve benefited from both myself.
I’m just saying that, if at any point you could be boosting some cool new marginalized creator, especially one not based in the US or Europe, please do so. Give them a chance to grow, be seen, make more radical work, and most importantly, get piggety-paid.
I close by giving you two names from Trinidad right now:
Ashlee Burnett (@AshleeABurnett) and Deneka Thomas (@lotusflowerpoet) are 2 brilliant Trini poets I am glad to work with. Always digging deep with their work, always eager.
Put them in your magazines, please.
Ashlee Burnett (@AshleeABurnett) and Deneka Thomas (@lotusflowerpoet) are 2 brilliant Trini poets I am glad to work with. Always digging deep with their work, always eager.
Put them in your magazines, please.
ETA:
there's a secondary benefit to the signal boost that positively affects both the burgeoning creators you lift up and the marginalized creators-to-be who see you lift them up.
there's a secondary benefit to the signal boost that positively affects both the burgeoning creators you lift up and the marginalized creators-to-be who see you lift them up.
It was in my mind, and I forgot it, and then this tweet by @DebErelene reminded me:
It isn't just about making sure they're visible (although make no mistake about the importance of this). It's also about *letting people know they can be creators*. Letting people know that they exist in the industry and are being seen generally, not just in pockets of their own.
When you lift a creator now starting out, you're telling them that you notice their hard work & you want someone else to notice it too.
You're also telling other marginalized folks who have dreamed of it silently that they can not only do it, but do it and be seen by others.
You're also telling other marginalized folks who have dreamed of it silently that they can not only do it, but do it and be seen by others.
You're telling audiences, which are almost always full of artists themselves, that there's space for them, and that they're not just keeping their stories in the family. You're reassuring them that their potential has general appeal. That people can see them, and want to.
Speaking for myself, I don't think I would have even made it in SFF at all, small fry as I am, if it wasn't for a few boosts both big and small from people who had heard or seen my work.
It not only let me be seen, it let me see myself. Knowing that your body is not on the fringes of an industry is its own radicalism.
But allies need to do that mainstreaming for us, or else we're preaching to choirs out here.
But allies need to do that mainstreaming for us, or else we're preaching to choirs out here.
So know that you're not only helping one creator eat. You're giving a handful of other creators-in-the-rough hope that they can tell those stories, and be seen, and eat, because this creator you lifted up is visible.
tl;dr
Signal-boosting has so many benefits you can literally forget them all. But you're helping creators in so many ways, and all you have to do is shout them out in public, earnestly and eagerly.
Signal-boosting has so many benefits you can literally forget them all. But you're helping creators in so many ways, and all you have to do is shout them out in public, earnestly and eagerly.
