Welcoem to posts!!
in the future - u will be able to do some more stuff here,,,!! like pat catgirl- i mean um yeah... for now u can only see others's posts :c
Hey friends! Due to a little doggie hospital visit this week Laura and I are postponing our Prompted stream from tonight to Sunday!
We hope to see you then!
âȘ@LauraNettlesâŹ
#authortube
17 - 10
Hey friends! Laura and I are going to have to skip our planned stream tonight! We have some conflicting events. However, weâll be back next week for more after dark prompt shenanigans!
âȘ@LauraNettles⏠#authortube
18 - 2
Hey friends! âȘ@LauraNettles⏠and I will stream our Prompted: After Dark tomorrow night, Saturday 10/07/23 at 7PM CST.
Canât wait to see you all and get into some prompts! đâ€ïžđ
18 - 2
WE NEED YOUR HELP! âȘ@AuthorMorganLee⏠& @TLRUSSLIFESTYLE (Tiffany Russell) and I are premiering a new show next week based on our Mastermind group. But weâre having a hard time coming up with the title for the show. I will list our top 3 choices below, please vote and comment with your thoughts!
#AuthorTube #WritingCommunity
17 - 4
In case you missed my story for the Pride and Prejudice anthology check it out below. Iâm also dropping a link for the playlist featuring two wonderful poems by âȘ@ShayWithThaHobbies⏠and âȘ@MoonBunnyCreativeâŹ.
P&P 2 Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX...
#AuthorTube #AudioFiction #Pride2022
7 - 0
To Our CGL Audience:
On the situation regarding Bex, The Novel Nana, I wanted to take a moment and provide clarity and information many are lacking; full transparency is not only necessary, but something I want to provide for you, the CGL Community. More detail and communication will be given at the one-year anniversary show, but due to the comments and messages I have received, I wanted to clear the air, now. I was as surprised as everyone else when Bex announced her departure from Critique Group Live in an FB post yesterday. To be clear, it was our intention to remove Bex from the show, I simply hadnât because she had avoided meeting with me before quitting. The reasoning behind this is outlined below.
Over the course of the year, Bex and I had MANY conversations about how her language and in some cases, her thinking, was outdated, racist and offensive. I explained, in no uncertain terms, âYou can have racist ideology and have a black family member.â I also reiterated that itâs inappropriate to refer to black people as âthe blacks,â and discussed how one can claim Christianity while still harboring racist views (including the lesson on when the Bible was used to argue in favor of slavery). We also had a conversation where I explained âSis isnât appropriate for a white woman to use with a black woman.â I wish those were the only examples, but the list would go on and on and on.
A series of microaggressions by Bex with increasing frequency has made doing CGL uncomfortable, disengaging, and chaoticâŠso much so, that one auditioning host quit. Then another mentioned needing several months to reconsider whether this was a safe space. Heartbreaking to know that CGL wasnât a safe place, the safe place that myself and Steph hoped it would be, and aim for it to be now. It shouldnât have taken things to get to this point before I did something about it. Iâm sorry for this failure in leadership.
For those that might be confused as to what a microaggression is, the post Bex made to FB is a good example. Notice who she name checks in the post, only black creators. Not only that, but she implies that Grayson canceled a collaboration with her in that same post, and I want to clarify, to anyone who is a Bex fan and wants to hound Grayson or suspect that he âpushed her out of CGL,â that I begged Bex to remove Graysonâs name from her post and leave him out of it. No one pushed her out; her racism and these microaggressions were not an unspoken issue, she just wasnât listening. Instead, she doubled down, âIâm not taking anything down. I said nothing wrong.â If there are black creators telling you, as a white person, that you made the space feel uncomfortable, they are right. Their feelings and realities are valid and justified, and her insisting that she âdid nothing wrongâ and her continuing to claim victim status, is not okay.
Before you hop in the comments to support Bex or reassure her on that post, as some of you in my community have done, insisting âthat she isnât racist,â maybe look around the comments section. A bunch of cis straight white women reassuring each other Bex, another cis straight white woman who is being called out for racism, sounds pretty racist, right? Then maybe reread that post, except from the point of view of the black AuthorTuber who QUIT because they were afraid of her doing just what she did in her post, playing the victim and weaponizing that victimhood against them.
If Bex didnât understand what a microaggression is or how often she spouts themâŠthatâs only because she wasnât listening. I personally had countless conversations with her about this; my own trust that people can change and belief that her motives were aimed at change kept me from seeing she had no intention of changing. At some point you demand accountability from adults and I suppose this is her moment. I want to be abundantly clear, I donât want anyone from my community to harass her. That only feeds the sense of grievance and victimhood that oozes from her post. If you find yourself wanting to vocalize your anger or contempt at her, consider instead to offer your support and love to those more deserving of attention and care during this time: The black Authortube community that is enduring this sort of racism Every. Day.
I fully believe in the ability to change and grow. I know because I work everyday to be anti racist. Bias is deeply ingrained and it takes a conscious effort to push back against it. My hope is this will be the wakeup call that spurs her growth, but I am no longer concerned with being her teacher, and I have severed any and all alignment we once held. I am only sorry I didnât do this sooner.
To the auditioning hosts Iâm sorry that I failed you. One of these hosts mentioned to me that they âfelt abandoned by me.â Iâve agonized over that statement and promise to do my part to never fail them or this community by not addressing racism/microaggressions in the moment. Never again will I give the benefit of the doubt to those who donât deserve it. I only hope you will find it within your hearts to forgive me.
To you, the CGL audience, I assure you we are working toward creating a welcoming environment and will continue to do so each and every day. Please be patient with us as we rebuild from the rubble, and accept our apologies for allowing the community to take such an avoidable hit. Taking on racism is something Iâm proud to commit to, and I will show this more acutely, going forward.
I encourage feedback on how I can continue to improve and create a welcoming environment for all.
Barrett Laurie
31 - 10
Iâm a Crohn's vlogger, bulldog dad & a queer writer. My vlogs follow my life as a disabled person (Crohn's disease) climbing the career ladder, living my best life w/ my husband Ricky & our English bulldog Brylee.
Look for new content 3X per week. A weekly disabled AF vlog & two shorts. I host a livestream for my podcast Gut Instinct bi monthly and other none IBD related content.
Set notifications to catch Prompted with Laura Nettles - we write flash fiction to a prompt and share our work live, Epic Karaoke w/ Margaret Pinard, & The Writer's Room w/ Tiffany Russell & Morgan Lee.
You can find me @barrett_laurie on most social media spaces.
XO Barrett
***Affiliate Disclosure: Barrett Laurie is a participant in the Amazon Services, LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linkage to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.