A Message from SOMA Action’s President
Dear SOMA Action members,
On Sunday, January 30th a question was posed on the SOMA Action Discussion Facebook page by a white member of our community about Jefferson’s writings on slavery; the post also asked for resources and education. The post was not immediately flagged for review and/or moderated. Throughout the next two days, commenters on the thread shared critical and important resources as well as their opinions. A BIPOC member of our community expressed dismay that such a question had to be asked in the first place about a man who held people in slavery. Other members of the community responded to the BIPOC member and that commentary became both personal in nature, as well as negative towards the BIPOC member. On Wednesday, February 2nd, the Executive Committee (EC) of SOMA Action decided to issue a statement and disable comments on the thread in order to prevent further harm from being caused.
As SOMA Action’s new President, I drafted a statement and posted it on the Jefferson thread before comments were shut down. My intention behind the statement was to cultivate a space where all members of our community are welcome to ask good faith questions and engage in civil discourse without being shamed. I see now that the impact of my statement was that it prioritized white comfort and the desire for “everyone to get along” over real, raw and valid expressions of pain from BIPOC members of our community.
My statement served as a classic example of tone policing. I am deeply sorry for falling into this all-too-common bulwark of white supremacy, and for alienating our closest allies.
The EC’s decision to pause the SOMA Action Discussion page was not the result of that particular thread or statement, as meaningful and respectful dialogue was continuing to take place on our page. The decision to pause was the result of personal attacks that started proliferating on the page, and our belief that we needed to revisit the purpose of the SOMA Action Discussion Facebook page altogether.
After two weeks of reflection, phone calls with members of our community, numerous meetings of the EC and a meeting of all SOMA Action Trustees and Chairs, the questions we are currently holding are these -
Can we ensure that our Facebook page is a safe place for traditionally marginalized members of our community, as well as a place for people who sincerely wish to learn and grow as they travel along their journey to true antiracism, which is at the core of all of our progressive work?
What resources, community agreements and skill level of moderators would that take?
Is this space necessary for our work or can it be done in person, where our humanity is more easily accessible?
We are creating a special committee composed of Trustees and Chairs who are interested in reflecting on these questions to determine the best way forward.
As the SOMA Action Discussion page remains paused, we encourage you to stay in touch with us by emailing the Executive Committee at info@somaaction.org, by communicating with each other on SOMA Action Events and our Instagram page (@somaaction), and by remaining engaged within our eight committees.
We know that this was a painful moment in SOMA Action’s history, and the members of the Executive Committee deeply apologize for that pain that we caused members in our community by our actions.
On a personal note, this is not the first time I have caused harm in the work of activism, antiracism and organizing, and I know, unfortunately, that it will not be the last. My hope for myself, this organization and each of us is that we don’t turn away from the work when we mess up, but rather turn towards ourselves and each other and ask how we can do better.
Over the past two weeks, SOMA Action has proven itself to be a place where we can learn from one another offline with mutual respect and generosity of spirit. We hope that those same values and commitments can be brought to an online community going forward.
In solidarity,
Jessica James
SOMA Action President