Plan actions in the light of #BlackLivesMatter

[hturner]

In our statement on #BlackLivesMatter, we acknowledged Forwards could do more to directly support and represent Black, Indigenous and People of Color in the #rstats community. Let's collect ideas here for future actions that we can discuss in our upcoming meetings and on Slack, to help us make good on this commitment.

[LizHareDogs]

Outreach to Historically Black Coleges and Universities (HBCU)

[LizHareDogs]

Look back at surveys from last conferences to see if there was any feedback about how to make Black people feel les marginalized.

[LizHareDogs]

Sorry for reactions above— I got stuck in that menu and couldn’t leave without choosing one each time I got stuck

[LizHareDogs]

There ae some new groups for Black scientists on Twitter so maybe we could approach that community about how to welcome them and provide opportunities. It’s a fine line because they don’t have the bandwidth to be asked about extra work right now.

[hturner]

When we select the panelists for the diversity and inclusion breakout session planned for useR!, make sure we have at least one panelist that is Black, Indigenous or a person of colour. If we can't achieve this, withdraw the breakout session or postpone it and organize it as a stand-alone event.

CC'ing those involved in planning the session as this is an immediate action: @damiacer, @noatamir, @DragonflyStats, @ajrgodfrey, @imkemayer.

[LizHareDogs]

At this moment in the US, someBlack people don’t want to be lumped in with other POC because of their unique history of slavery, experiences with violent law enforcement, and the disproportionate effects of Covid-19 on Black people. So from a US perspective it would be really good to have someone who identifies as Black. I understand this is likely to be challenging because we are also being asked to do the work ourselves rather than asking Black people to do it all.

[DragonflyStats]

Re: Breakout session - I had previously remarked upon on-boarding Lais Carvalho - who is Afro-Brazilian onto the Community Team. She was a team member for the SatRdays DC, and helped Ben do the set up. She is the coordinator of the PyData Ireland virtual Meetups.

[noatamir]

I think we need to aim to support and amplify MiR's work effectively. Like, we should retweet their initiatives and keep suggesting them as an account to follow, so they can build up reach in their account. Also let's think how else can we help them without taking spotlight.

[noatamir]

I think we need to take time to learn and workshop ideas for what minoritised R programmers would find supportive and effective, including doing a retrospective about where we failed to represent or incorporate BIPOC actions and views before. For me this work needs to be about impact and long term changes, and we need to avoid rushed or performative based decisions.

If possible, restructuring and internal changes should come first. I don't just mean recruitment, because of Liz's excellent points about not requiring BIPOC to do the work, but maybe start by introducing a process for keeping ourselves accountable that we are considering, and priositising, intersectionality in our work, and not just going for "easy" and mostly "white-cis-western" broad actions that amplify negative effects for minoritised people, as they are also excluded from the DEI initiatives.

[noatamir]

Re:breakout session

I'm not sure we should do it. I don't think a token Black person helps, unless you are willing to use the panel to openly discuss how Forwards fell short to represent them so far - in that case it might be useful. Actually doing a review/retrospective of what we got wrong so far with soome intersectinoality perspective for the panel might be a good idea?! I'm not sure. I feel like this is all a bit rushed. I think I'd prefer to withdraw and do it next year when we more thoughtful, and hopefully show some progress.

[hturner]

I had similar thoughts about tokenism and in the meantime suggested by email that we might aim for the panel to be all/mostly BIPOC with people that could speak to a range of diversity issues, not only racial justice. I shared some more ideas (in addition to Lais) of people we could potentially ask to be chairs, moderators or panelists.

It's a fair point that this is all a bit rushed and perhaps we need to do more work first. On the other hand it's an opportunity for dialogue and for BIPOC to let us know how we can help. At the moment plans for useR! 2021 are a bit sketchy, it's not clear whether breakout sessions will be a part. Of course we can organize a separate event, but then perhaps it pushes the conversation to the side.

I'm trying to arrange a meeting next Monday/Tuesday for us to discuss this further and decide what we should do. I might have used the wrong email for you so will forward you the thread.