Monday, 30 December 2019

Weekly Update: December 22 to 28 (RWA Meltdown)

Weekly word count: about 200

It's been a week.  Oh my freaking gods has it been a week.

I'm not sure if anyone isn't aware of what's been happening in romancelandia, but if anyone needs a recap, this one covers what has happened.  There are more questions than answers, but even the most innocent explanations have some pretty awful implications.

I've always been proud to be a member of RWA.  I was proud to be part of a professional writing organization and proud of their recent efforts to deal with a systemic issue of unconscious bias and cultural racism.  (There was a lot of work that needed to be done, but I believed they were doing that work.)  I really don't know what to feel any more about the organization.

I've decided to hold on to my membership for now.  It expires in August, so I'll need to make a decision by then.  I want to be able to use my voice and my vote to continue to support diversity and inclusion.  I've also remained as a RITA judge, because I want to ensure books by diverse authors and featuring diverse characters have a fair shot at being judged.

However, it's going to take a lot of work and, frankly, resignations from those who have allowed this to occur, before I can trust this organization again.

There have been a number of people who have rightfully said that marginalized people cannot be expected to do all the work.  I agree, which is why I'm sticking around to do what I can.

I'm not doing a tarot read this week.  I'll try to get back to it next week, when I'm a little more clear-headed.

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