addressing what happened the day before yesterday

Hey community,

In light of two native community members feeling comfortable calling the rapist because they couldn't successfully slander somebody that this page was raising funds for, I would like to call attention to anti-blackness in the native community - for this moment. 

Anyone can be an insufferable online stalker, but six people took it upon themselves to gang up on a black person online to try to bully me out of supporting someone else. This is about the anti-blackness that I experienced from three of these native community members. Anti-blackness is an international phenomenon but it is especially curious when it shows up in the native American population. You would think they would know better and do better, and some of them do, but too many of them don't. But, no community is monolith which is why we need to talk about it.

First of all, all six of them coming to take up space like that on a page geared towards black people was their first anti-blackness. I've run into a lot of native American people who think they are entitled to my time and resources because of the history of how enslaved Africans were forced to assist in colonization. They think we owe them something. After I explained that the money was coming to me and I'm black that would have been the end of it if they weren't anti-black. Four of them continuing to take up space for hours was their second anti-blackness. 

One of them said I "sound White". As a person who is told that I'm very articulate by multiple white people, I know exactly what that means. It is very much associating being educated and assertive with whiteness. Never mind that black women are actually the most educated demographic in the United States. Associating being educated and assertive with my knowledge with whiteness is anti-black. 

One of them said I shouldn't be trying to raise money for them to recoup the money that they owe me because they're white, which is anti-blackness. Telling a black person what money they should and shouldn't have or be collecting is absolutely anti-blackness. And I actually brought that up, but then I deleted that comment, because I figured that the whole conversation would turn into that and it would be even less productive than the conversation already was. 

At some point one of them called me anti-black because I said that if they have all this evidence that all these terrible things happen, including animal abuse, they should call the police. I got called anti black after I said even if the police do nothing you can still document that you called the police which would give more legitimacy to all of your claims. Acab and this the system that we have right now until we have a better, more equitable one.

I wanted to see how long this would go on and it went on for hours. At some point I demanded their accountability demands since they keep bringing up the word accountability. They didn't give me any demands. They said that they posted twice but it never came up and then when I asked again that's when they started calling me a rapist said that they don't have to explain themselves to a rapist. 

Started calling me a rapist and obsessed with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein because I told one of them that they suck so much Trump is jealous and I told the other one that they are so obsessed with the person that they are accusing of all this harassment and abuse then Jeffrey Epstein was with children. 

And then when I explained how calling a black person a rapist is anti-black specifically in the hypersexualization of black people and how black men are disproportionately falsely accused of rape, they doubled down.

I'm going to need the natives to do better. 

There's a lot that could happen here in terms of personal accountability, and I'm not worried about a rumor. I'm in a lot of different communities, and people would just talk to me first. 

But I will also zoom out to the overall situation that the main person that claimed all this stuff happened and they have all of this evidence (and never sent me any) typed out "hehe" twice in all of this trying to get me to withdraw support from this person that they are accusing of threats and animal abuse. I already wasn't buying the JLo tickets, but now this person thinks that they can sell somebody oceanfront property in Zimbia.

It's the community's responsibility to hold people like this accountable. Accountability can look like a lot of different things. 

For me, my accountability demands is that they absolutely stop spreading lies and rumors like this. Stop the online smear campaign. They address their internalized anti-blackness and they stop feeling so comfortable in Black spaces. Six of them versus one of me was basically an invasion.

My accountability to request to the community is that nobody believe rumors and do not be intimidated by people ganging up on you. Always ask questions, and if they don't provide evidence, don't mind them. And if they do provide evidence even be critical of the evidence. Things can be taken out of context. 

Thanks for reading 🧿