The Impossible Project of Radical Compassion
March 11, 2019 12:08 PM Subscribe
Last month J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, Ph.D. (or "Dr. J.") shared her "10 Commandments" on Twitter, or as one put it: "nailed her core values to the Twitter wall." Now read her essay "I am STILL not the Diversity Police". Dr. J. is a college professor, scholar, writer, and equity and inclusion strategist currently serving as the first-ever Diversity Ambassador for the Brewers Association.
Dr. J. in the New York Times (January 14, 2019): Craft Beer Looks Beyond ‘Young White Dudes With Beards’
For the Twitter-adverse, her 10 Commandments:
1) I cannot foster inclusion by being exclusive.
2) Finding solutions is infinitely more valuable than finding fault.
3) "It's complicated" is usually the best answer, even when I think it is not.
4) Context always matters...always.
5) Teaching thinking is better than teaching ideas.
6) What I do not say will define my character more than what I do say.
7) I am not defined by my circumstances, but rather how I deal with them.
8) My privilege is a responsibility to serve.
9) Everyone has a reason.
10) I will never, ever experience regret because I failed to try.
Via Stan Hieronymus.
Dr. J. in the New York Times (January 14, 2019): Craft Beer Looks Beyond ‘Young White Dudes With Beards’
For the Twitter-adverse, her 10 Commandments:
1) I cannot foster inclusion by being exclusive.
2) Finding solutions is infinitely more valuable than finding fault.
3) "It's complicated" is usually the best answer, even when I think it is not.
4) Context always matters...always.
5) Teaching thinking is better than teaching ideas.
6) What I do not say will define my character more than what I do say.
7) I am not defined by my circumstances, but rather how I deal with them.
8) My privilege is a responsibility to serve.
9) Everyone has a reason.
10) I will never, ever experience regret because I failed to try.
Via Stan Hieronymus.
Wow. In my field the beer scholars have become positioned as the antithesis of the scholars of race (really). I appreciate seeing that this does not have to be the case.
posted by Tesseractive at 2:39 PM on March 11, 2019
posted by Tesseractive at 2:39 PM on March 11, 2019
I think I may have a new hero. Certainly, renewed impetus to drink a diversity of non-mainstream ales and lagers and pilsners and stouts and barley wines and porters and bocks and weissbiers and ...
posted by philip-random at 3:28 PM on March 11, 2019
posted by philip-random at 3:28 PM on March 11, 2019
3) "It's complicated" is usually the best answer, even when I think it is not.
That's sure to make a lot of heads explode in political discussions, even on MetaFilter...
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 4:50 PM on March 11, 2019 [3 favorites]
That's sure to make a lot of heads explode in political discussions, even on MetaFilter...
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 4:50 PM on March 11, 2019 [3 favorites]
this is really heavy, really great stuff. I am so angry about blame-finding culture and yet it is so very difficult to get past the aspect of "your actions have clearly harmed people."
It is a number of small small leaps to get from "promotes slavery" to "pronounces names wrong" and yet, I wonder if I spend more time worrying about offending or worrying about "offending."
posted by rebent at 5:01 PM on March 11, 2019 [4 favorites]
It is a number of small small leaps to get from "promotes slavery" to "pronounces names wrong" and yet, I wonder if I spend more time worrying about offending or worrying about "offending."
posted by rebent at 5:01 PM on March 11, 2019 [4 favorites]
Her statement about how she used her own privilege sounds very personal but is frustrating for me to read because it's quite high level and vague. I wish she provided some specifics about the leveraging of privilege of which she speaks.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:26 AM on March 12, 2019
posted by Going To Maine at 3:26 AM on March 12, 2019
Coming from what is happening in YA Twitter to this is like a soothing balm. Many people want to make the world better in every possible way, but the internet often makes it easy to forget that.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:23 AM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:23 AM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
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I agree so strongly with "Finding solutions is infinitely more valuable than finding fault," and it's something I've thought a lot during some of the most contentious threads here at MeFi.
And I love this, from the "STILL not the Diversity Police" essay: Thank you for posting this, exogenous!
(And thank you for posting the 10 Commandments here - I am not exactly Twitter-averse, but I'm not a Twitter user and not a fan of the format, so it's really nice to have them right here in the thread.)
posted by kristi at 12:57 PM on March 11, 2019 [10 favorites]