[Portlandabc] [Fwd: Concerns Over Oppressive Member]

Sun Apr 5 00:46:49 PDT 2015

Hey Everybody,
               First of all: FACEBOOK SHOULD ONLY BE USED FOR POSTING
PICTURES OF YOUR PUSSY. (Or bun-bun, or pet frog.)
              We got this message (below) in the ABC list mailbox from
someone at Blackcat Films who is having issues about Tyler.
They want a response from us (Portland ABC.)  Since I am not
perfect and have no expectation for perfection in others, I
have no idea what to say. (If anything.) Been here over and
over again thru the years with various causes and affinity
groups. What I can tell you is many activist type people
take themselves way too seriously. Somebody who lacks
confidence and is frustrated with their circumstances will
always find a chump to take offense against if they are
determined enough to find one. A classic transference. My
thought about this is that any one of us, and most
particularly Tyler, can be a horse's ass on any given day.
So, before you go getting overly distraught about this and
submit to (yawn) another idiotic panel of hypocrites, just
think about the fact that we must be ourselves. Some people,
perhaps a lot of people, are not going to like you no matter
what you do, because THEY HAVE DECIDED NOT TO.
Best,
Suna

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Concerns Over Oppressive Member
From:    "blackcatfilmsltd ." <blackcatfilmsltd at gmail.com>
Date:    Fri, March 6, 2015 10:47 pm
To:      portlandabc at gmail.com
         portlandabc at resist.ca
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

I wanted to contact you about concerns a few community members had about a
member of yours.

I am an organizer with the Portland Solidarity Network, the Black Rose
Anarchist Federation, and the IWW, and have worked with ABC a number of
times over the years.  I, along with several others, have discussed what
has happened with Tyler recently and wanted to raise the issue.  We
strongly support the aims and goals of ABC, and have had nothing but great
experiences in the past, which is why we think that our concerns about a
member will be taken seriously.

Tyler has been going online and posting very hateful and bigoted
body-shaming and fatphobic comments, instigating people with sexist
language, and tapping into a reactionary body oppressiveness in the
community.  We are committed to targeting oppression in an intersectional
way, and consider body oppression an important component of this.  We see
the way that body oppression plays out is by marginalizing certain body
types, deeming them “broken” or “deviant,” and shaming and discriminating
against people with those bodies under a thinly veiled guise of health and
concern trolling.  In our safer spaces, we expect that these issues will be
respected and that this kind of behavior will be dealt with in the same way
that other types of oppressive behavior would be, such as sexism,
transphobia, and racism.  The language he has used, and supported others
using, is disturbing, and we want to set a precedence that we are going to
tolerate this kind of thing inside of activist spaces.

We are asking you to confront the issue with the member and set an
expectation for some kind of brief accountability framework, or to sever
the relationship if they are not wiling to be challenged on their
oppressive behavior.  We want to know that the organizations and spaces
that we work so closely with are going to be safe spaces as well as areas
for anti-oppression struggle, with body issues being a component of that. 
With
ABC’s track record, we believe that the issue will be taken seriously and
we are confident in your standards for membership and participation.

Thank you for listening to our concerns, and I am looking forward to
hearing back about how the issue will be dealt with.  I have also attached
a few screenshots of some online statements that he has made that I think
illustrate just the tip of the ice burg when it comes to an almost violent
attack on people of size.  What I attached is only a small fraction of what
he said, and he went on and on about how shameful large bodies were.  This
is not the first time he has had issues in the past, and has previously had
this brought up with him, as well as his behavior towards women and folks
of color.
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