POC Safer Space Check-In
May. 27th, 2015 10:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jhameiaThis post is an invitation for all POC who used the WisCon POC Safer Space this year to check in with their experiences and feedback.
Usually at the POC Dinner I begin with a disclaimer that the POC Safer Space is a Safer Space, not a Safe Space, and usually we can't guarantee safety because POC aren't a monolith, and we're bound to have conflict. It is, however, a space designed for POC to find community and make connections with each other, especially face-to-face. The energy from this face-to-face can be stressful, but it can also be very healing to see, hear, and touch each other. I think I neglected to give this warning this year but oh well, hopefully y'all didn't have too-high, unmet expectations XP
So here're some guiding questions:
1) Did you use the Safer Space this year? With or without encouragement?
2) Were there particular reasons/ways you used the Safer Space?
3) Did you feel welcome at the Safer Space? Were there moments you didn't feel like you could use the Safer Space?
For those who had used the Safer Space before:
4) Did the furniture arrangements this year change your experience?
5) Did you have prior expectations from previous years that were not matched (either good or bad) this year?
For those who didn't use the Safer Space:
6) Did you know there was a POC Safer Space? Did you know where it is?
7) If you did know and didn't use it, was it just because you didn't feel the need to?
----------------------------
I have always seen the POC Safer Space as an ad hoc space, to be used as necessary according to context and circumstance. We've had breakout sessions, hangouts, cuddlepiles, meals in there. I've never seen the need for more structure in what happens in there, but who knows, maybe folks disagree and would like to see more scheduled events? If that is the case, I can certainly arrange some!
This year I had the beds in one room removed, and left the beds in the other, and thought that they saw about equal use. Clearing out the beds did help, I feel, in making the room easier to get around. (The one time I saw a breakout session in there, it was me needing the breakout session so I was a bit too upset to notice that the one person initiating the distribution of chairs around the room was a wheelchair user and I felt a little silly afterwards about that. Thanks, Lane, you are too cool for words.)
For beverages, we had one kettle and a microwave, and I invited folks to bring tea in for a teapotluck (hush, it's punny!), although I don't really know how well that went over. I do know the ConSuite was very grateful for the leftover tea we gave them! We also had a lot of soft drinks from the CBS party. There were plastic cups and cold water jugs, and Moondancer Drake had to request mugs. For next year I'll be more mindful about this. (It was $29/gallon of hot water, and I decided, fuck THAT.) (Tempest said we probably ought to look into one of those special kettles that boils water to specific temps, because too hot water ruins tea!)
I don't know if anyone else needed the Safer Space for breakout, but I definitely needed it after the #BridgingtheGap panel to process it. I tweeted it and a time, and folks actually came in response, which sort of made me feel really good. We had a conversation which helped me quite a bit, and discussed another thing that had happened. So that was two breakout sessions in one. If people aren't using the space for breakout, that's really a good sign, because it probably means less fuckery out in the general space that makes us feel unsafe to discuss our ish.
On the night of the Floomp, I found a group of folks in the Safer Space with radio and speakers (courtesy of Sheila!) because, well, the music at the Floomp wasn't the best :P So, getting away from yt ppl music seems to be a thing in the Safer Space!
Someone asked if they could have a party in the Safer Space, and I okay'd it because I saw no reason not to. However, they did ask me last minute (when I wasn't quite feeling "on") and turns out they had ordered in catering. If I had known this I might not have said yes... Tempest and I have agreed that we should have some procedure in place for folks to ask about having events in there which are something like personal parties, but open to all POC. I will think on this further! It might be great to have these things okay'd beforehand in order to spread the word. Also so I don't get surprised phone calls about that stuff. (I don't mind it, really; I was just very surprised, and I sort of don't like being surprised, it makes me worry.)
I saw someone had put up a sign on making it safer for LGBT POC, which sort of concerns me that some fuckery is going down that I didn't notice. I tend to assume that most POC at WisCon are QPOC to start with, but this year we introduced preferred pronoun stickers, so I can see mis-gendering being a thing. The new Genderqueer/Trans Lounge was right next door and I'll be checking in with them on how their first year went.
Tempest and I discussed the possibility of having more information on the Safer Space on the Carl Brandon Society website as well.
Anyway, those are my current thoughts. I love running the Safer Space and I don't think it's difficult, administratively-speaking, but to me it's an emotionally exhausting job, because I really want people to be comfortable and to use the space in a way that actually helps them feel safer and more connected to other POC. Now it could be I'm overthinking and overfretting, but even if it's something like "I thought it was all good" that would still be a big help to me!
Any suggestions, feedback, criticisms, whatever, are welcome! Comment screening is on for everything unless otherwise specified. Anonymous comments have been enabled for two weeks!
Usually at the POC Dinner I begin with a disclaimer that the POC Safer Space is a Safer Space, not a Safe Space, and usually we can't guarantee safety because POC aren't a monolith, and we're bound to have conflict. It is, however, a space designed for POC to find community and make connections with each other, especially face-to-face. The energy from this face-to-face can be stressful, but it can also be very healing to see, hear, and touch each other. I think I neglected to give this warning this year but oh well, hopefully y'all didn't have too-high, unmet expectations XP
So here're some guiding questions:
1) Did you use the Safer Space this year? With or without encouragement?
2) Were there particular reasons/ways you used the Safer Space?
3) Did you feel welcome at the Safer Space? Were there moments you didn't feel like you could use the Safer Space?
For those who had used the Safer Space before:
4) Did the furniture arrangements this year change your experience?
5) Did you have prior expectations from previous years that were not matched (either good or bad) this year?
For those who didn't use the Safer Space:
6) Did you know there was a POC Safer Space? Did you know where it is?
7) If you did know and didn't use it, was it just because you didn't feel the need to?
----------------------------
I have always seen the POC Safer Space as an ad hoc space, to be used as necessary according to context and circumstance. We've had breakout sessions, hangouts, cuddlepiles, meals in there. I've never seen the need for more structure in what happens in there, but who knows, maybe folks disagree and would like to see more scheduled events? If that is the case, I can certainly arrange some!
This year I had the beds in one room removed, and left the beds in the other, and thought that they saw about equal use. Clearing out the beds did help, I feel, in making the room easier to get around. (The one time I saw a breakout session in there, it was me needing the breakout session so I was a bit too upset to notice that the one person initiating the distribution of chairs around the room was a wheelchair user and I felt a little silly afterwards about that. Thanks, Lane, you are too cool for words.)
For beverages, we had one kettle and a microwave, and I invited folks to bring tea in for a teapotluck (hush, it's punny!), although I don't really know how well that went over. I do know the ConSuite was very grateful for the leftover tea we gave them! We also had a lot of soft drinks from the CBS party. There were plastic cups and cold water jugs, and Moondancer Drake had to request mugs. For next year I'll be more mindful about this. (It was $29/gallon of hot water, and I decided, fuck THAT.) (Tempest said we probably ought to look into one of those special kettles that boils water to specific temps, because too hot water ruins tea!)
I don't know if anyone else needed the Safer Space for breakout, but I definitely needed it after the #BridgingtheGap panel to process it. I tweeted it and a time, and folks actually came in response, which sort of made me feel really good. We had a conversation which helped me quite a bit, and discussed another thing that had happened. So that was two breakout sessions in one. If people aren't using the space for breakout, that's really a good sign, because it probably means less fuckery out in the general space that makes us feel unsafe to discuss our ish.
On the night of the Floomp, I found a group of folks in the Safer Space with radio and speakers (courtesy of Sheila!) because, well, the music at the Floomp wasn't the best :P So, getting away from yt ppl music seems to be a thing in the Safer Space!
Someone asked if they could have a party in the Safer Space, and I okay'd it because I saw no reason not to. However, they did ask me last minute (when I wasn't quite feeling "on") and turns out they had ordered in catering. If I had known this I might not have said yes... Tempest and I have agreed that we should have some procedure in place for folks to ask about having events in there which are something like personal parties, but open to all POC. I will think on this further! It might be great to have these things okay'd beforehand in order to spread the word. Also so I don't get surprised phone calls about that stuff. (I don't mind it, really; I was just very surprised, and I sort of don't like being surprised, it makes me worry.)
I saw someone had put up a sign on making it safer for LGBT POC, which sort of concerns me that some fuckery is going down that I didn't notice. I tend to assume that most POC at WisCon are QPOC to start with, but this year we introduced preferred pronoun stickers, so I can see mis-gendering being a thing. The new Genderqueer/Trans Lounge was right next door and I'll be checking in with them on how their first year went.
Tempest and I discussed the possibility of having more information on the Safer Space on the Carl Brandon Society website as well.
Anyway, those are my current thoughts. I love running the Safer Space and I don't think it's difficult, administratively-speaking, but to me it's an emotionally exhausting job, because I really want people to be comfortable and to use the space in a way that actually helps them feel safer and more connected to other POC. Now it could be I'm overthinking and overfretting, but even if it's something like "I thought it was all good" that would still be a big help to me!
Any suggestions, feedback, criticisms, whatever, are welcome! Comment screening is on for everything unless otherwise specified. Anonymous comments have been enabled for two weeks!