Black History Month in Second Life

[Love Zhaoying]

I received an email from LL regarding "Black History Month" yesterday, so did a Forum search and did find a more references (posts, featured content, etc.).

I realize "Black History Month" is really a "U.S." event.

Is there enough content on the Forum for Black History Month in Second Life?  I am interested in your opinion.  (Personally, I think some more would be good.)

The first contents from the email are below (a picture, so links don't work).

Edited February 17 by Love Zhaoying

[Ayashe Ninetails]

32 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Is there enough content on the Forum for Black History Month in Second Life? 

I personally don't need any.

I'm typically pink or green or blue or orange in SL anyway.

[Persephone Emerald]

3 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I personally don't need any.

I'm typically pink or green or blue or orange in SL anyway.

This brings up an interesting idea, though probably too controversial for this forum.

Is being black or a "person of color" about more than just skin color? Your avatar could be any color, but that doesn't change who you are inside. I obviously don't stop being white just because I'm wearing a purple or teal skin in SL, so an avatar's skin color isn't what makes them part of a racial identity.

[Love Zhaoying]

27 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

This brings up an interesting idea, though probably too controversial for this forum.

Is being black or a "person of color" about more than just skin color? Your avatar could be any color, but that doesn't change who you are inside. I obviously don't stop being white just because I'm wearing a purple or teal skin in SL, so an avatar's skin color isn't what makes them part of a racial identity.

While an interesting question, it's not really pertinent to whether one observes or celebrates "Black History Month".

Similar to some other observed days / holidays / etc., "Black History Month" is not just for "black people" / "people of color".  It is also for "education"; the contributions of black people to arts, culture, technology, etc. are often highlighted which have often intentionally been "suppressed" or are unknown due to relative anonymity.

So in this respect, the observance is also for "Allies" or anyone interested in history, culture, truth, etc.

 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

50 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

This brings up an interesting idea, though probably too controversial for this forum.

Is being black or a "person of color" about more than just skin color? Your avatar could be any color, but that doesn't change who you are inside. I obviously don't stop being white just because I'm wearing a purple or teal skin in SL, so an avatar's skin color isn't what makes them part of a racial identity.

I was attempting to avoid having to "go there," so my initial reply was rather vague, I admit. Lemme put it another way.

I, personally, cannot stand it when companies in general make a big deal out of things like Black History Month. It's not just LL. I feel the same way when I land on a store's or Hulu's homepage and get smacked in the face with it (or worse - the Juneteenth hype/merch), too. It's a me thing, I know. For learning my own history, there are far better resources I can turn to (books, personal essays, websites like TheGrio and The Root, my own family, etc.). I'm not coming to SL or any other virtual world for that. This is a place I retreat to to get away from these lessons and for once, get a chance to NOT be me. Hence the "I'm just green" response.

Nothing against you or your question @Love Zhaoying - just a personal peeve of mine (which perhaps I could've posted in the Peeves thread, but meh!). Others will feel differently, of course, and some may love the in-world celebrations. It just makes me grumpy, and you DID ask for opinions, soooo... 😂

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I, personally, cannot stand it when companies in general make a big deal out of things like Black History Month.

It's a tough call, some people are against "diversity programs". 

However: Given a choice between working for a company that DID celebrate Black History month (and hopefully various diversity programs), and a company that did NOT, I would choose the company that DID.

It's not that I am NOT cynical - it is just that my RL company does not cynically support different diversity and etc. - they REALLY support it.

Edited February 17 by Love Zhaoying

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

It's a tough call, some people are against "diversity programs". 

However: Given a choice between working for a company that DID celebrate Black History month (and hopefully various diversity programs), and a company that did NOT, I would choose the company that DID.

It's complicated. I'm not against diversity programs and initiatives in general. It's just a little obnoxious when you ONLY hear about these things on set dates and AT NO OTHER TIME, nomsayin? It's the same with Pride and similar celebrations - I fully support them, but I'll take a company that keeps those flags flying year-round FAR more seriously than the temporary flag in bio only in June thing, ya know? It's the same thing with this. Don't wait until February to fill my recommended with Black films, HULUUUUU. Stoppit.

*Disclaimer - I'm just picking on Hulu. I have no idea if they're still doing that. I did see HBO (oh sorry, MAX now, ugh) was sending around promo emails for Lunar New Year. Same concept. Stoppit.

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I fully support them, but I'll take a company that keeps those flags flying year-round FAR more seriously

My point about my company earlier - they have a year-around group specifically to support people of color.

And a year-around group to support LGBT+ people.

And a year-round group to support Women.

And a year-round group to support military and ex-military.

 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

6 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

My point about my company earlier - they have a year-around group specifically to support people of color.

And a year-around group to support LGBT+ people.

And a year-round group to support Women.

And a year-round group to support military and ex-military.

Yeah, that is awesome. I wish more companies did that. I can honestly say I have never worked anywhere with any of that (not even the goofy once-a-year "how about we mention this thing and then forget about it again" stuff).

Not to bring up the SL community pages again (oops), but I was hoping that at least those would've been more of a year-round celebration event for lots of communities, but that project seems to be no more.

[Love Zhaoying]

7 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Not to bring up the SL community pages again

No clue what that is, sorry. 

Which should tell you something! (I read the Forums a lot, duh.)

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

No clue what that is, sorry. 

Which should tell you something! (I read the Forums a lot, duh.)

OMG stop that. Yes you dooooo! Pretty sure you were in that thread (threads?).

Here's the announcement. I think they got two done.

 

https://secondlife.com/community/black-culture-community

And

https://secondlife.com/community/pride

[Love Zhaoying]

4 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

OMG stop that. Yes you dooooo! Pretty sure you were in that thread (threads?).

Here's the announcement. I think they got two done.

 

https://secondlife.com/community/black-culture-community

And

https://secondlife.com/community/pride

Sure, I may have seen the announcement.

But how do you get there from the Forums, hmmmm?  And how would you know if there was activity on those pages, if they are NOT connected to the Forums, hmmmm?

* stares at you intently awaiting an answer *

It's just a normal LL fail, nothing to see here.

Next derail. Bring it on. I'm ready.

 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Just now, Love Zhaoying said:

Sure, I may have seen the announcement.

But how do you get there from the Forums, hmmmm?  And how would you know if there was activity on those pages, if they are NOT connected to the Forums, hmmmm?

* stares at you intently awaiting an answer *

It's just a normal LL fail, nothing to see here.

Next derail. Bring it on. I'm ready.

 

Lol, I apologize. It wasn't an attempt to derail. The announcement you linked in the first post reminded me of the Black Community page (which also had links to various museums and galleries, etc.). I was mostly musing out loud about how those would've served a better purpose IMO, had the project continued, than the once-per-year shoutout to my community.

And I have no idea how to even find those pages organically, my lion friend. I had to use Le Google.

[Love Zhaoying]

4 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

And I have no idea how to even find those pages organically, my lion friend. I had to use Le Google.

Exactly. Not linking them "organically" to the Forum was a complete and total fail. A lot of us could've / would've "subscribed" to those pages. 

But as stand-alone pages, there's no way to know they exists unless they are promoted on occasion.

The ORIGINAL purpose of my thread was:

* me * "Hey look, an email about Black History Month in Second Life."

* me, searches for other Black History references on the Forums * "Huh, I don't see much. That's kind of not so great."

* me, posts on Forum to try and raise awareness a little *

* everyone else * Ignores, attacks, or complains.  (Or derails.)

Such is the life of a Forum Lion, merely trying to be supportive and a positive example.

Edited February 17 by Love Zhaoying

[Branduff Bisnovat]

I think the forums have been prioritized pretty low. It's clear that they read and moderate this and take certain things into consideration, but we're also an absolutely tiny part of the community at large so I guess it makes sense. It's still fully unmoderated on the weekends right?

I thought of the community pages too. They still feature the pride one on the SL landing page but you're right they're an underutilized feature in general and I think it's an oversight that they're not featuring the Black Culture one during Black History Month. LL has always struggled with webpages, I think that's why they insisted so much on a 3d internet lol

Can definitely relate to not wanting to be pandered to, feel that every pride. The educational stuff is nice though and I agree that it should be more common throughout the year.

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Branduff Bisnovat said:

It's still fully unmoderated on the weekends right?

Not always.  It may just take more reports or something to get noticed. 

[Arielle Popstar]

A topic such as this is probably best done by a Black representative of the minority rather than a token one of the wrong colour to represent that minorities interests. Too much risk of anyone else getting reported, deleted or banned.

[Luna Bliss]

7 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Is there enough content on the Forum for Black History Month in Second Life?  I am interested in your opinion.  (Personally, I think some more would be good.)

I think more would be good, and even advertised on the forum itself by LL so we are more likely to become aware of it.

[Persephone Emerald]

1 hour ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I was attempting to avoid having to "go there," so my initial reply was rather vague, I admit. Lemme put it another way.

I, personally, cannot stand it when companies in general make a big deal out of things like Black History Month. It's not just LL. I feel the same way when I land on a store's or Hulu's homepage and get smacked in the face with it (or worse - the Juneteenth hype/merch), too. It's a me thing, I know. For learning my own history, there are far better resources I can turn to (books, personal essays, websites like TheGrio and The Root, my own family, etc.). I'm not coming to SL or any other virtual world for that. This is a place I retreat to to get away from these lessons and for once, get a chance to NOT be me. Hence the "I'm just green" response.

Nothing against you or your question @Love Zhaoying - just a personal peeve of mine (which perhaps I could've posted in the Peeves thread, but meh!). Others will feel differently, of course, and some may love the in-world celebrations. It just makes me grumpy, and you DID ask for opinions, soooo... 😂

I agree it can be irritating when companies put on a Pride or Black History event one time each year, then ignore those people the rest of the year. The last company I worked for had hardly any black employees, so their Black History treats seemed kind of tone-deaf, with red kool-aid, banana pudding, and ? (I don't remember if they had fried chicken too.)

On the other hand, I enjoy hearing about black history and culture on NPR. There was a interesting show on this morning about a black lonely hearts magazine in 1937. The black journalists on the show read some of the letters from men looking for a wife, and one of the ladies picked which one she thought sounded the most promising. They were discussing the shift in black culture when many black people had moved to northern cities, created communities there, and were thinking about their life opportunities, love and dating in a more modern way than their parents had done.

Actually educating people has to be more than just mentioning the few famous black people from history who always get mentioned. I think real history should also be about understanding the lives of everyday people, their challenges, but also their successes and joys.

[Arielle Popstar]

2 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

I agree it can be irritating when companies put on a Pride or Black History event one time each year, then ignore those people the rest of the year. The last company I worked for had hardly any black employees, so their Black History treats seemed kind of tone-deaf, with red kool-aid, banana pudding, and ? (I don't remember if they had fried chicken too.)

On the other hand, I enjoy hearing about black history and culture on NPR. There was a interesting show on this morning about a black lonely hearts magazine in 1937. The black journalists on the show read some of the letters from men looking for a wife, and one of the ladies picked which one she thought sounded the most promising. They were discussing the shift in black culture when many black people had moved to northern cities, created communities there, and were thinking about their life opportunities, love and dating in a more modern way than their parents had done.

Actually educating people has to be more than just mentioning the few famous black people from history who always get mentioned. I think real history should also be about understanding the lives of everyday people, their challenges, but also their successes and joys.

Sure but then hopefully it is presented by someone of that persuasion rather than someone who isn't because it come across as being unauthentic and cringeworthy as this thread is considering that noone here is identifying themselves as being a part of that History. SL is making a mess of it if they don't present the month with some thought and consideration for what they are  promoting.

[Luna Bliss]

1 minute ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Sure but then hopefully it is presented by someone of that persuasion rather than someone who isn't because it come across as being unauthentic and cringeworthy as this thread is considering that noone here is identifying themselves as being a part of that History. SL is making a mess of it if they don't present the month with some thought and consideration for what they are  promoting.

A nice thing about being an activist in both SL & RL is that everyone is aware of all the different types of disadvantaged groups and try to help each other when we can, even when not technically a part of that group. They are called allies.  I cherish the male feminists who assisted a feminist group I was involved with.

The issue is we should help if not technically a part of the group, and not lead.

The wisest know we're all in this together, and one cause is not greater or lesser than the other.

[sirhc DeSantis]

7 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Is there enough content on the Forum for Black History Month in Second Life?  I am interested in your opinion.  (Personally, I think some more would be good.)

 

22:50
forum logged in : 68
inworld : 50606
You work it out. Yes of course but who would know?

 

[Arielle Popstar]

1 minute ago, Luna Bliss said:

A nice thing about being an activist in both SL & RL is that everyone is aware of all the different types of disadvantaged groups and try to help each other when we can, even when not technically a part of that group. They are called allies.  I cherish the male feminists who assisted a feminist group I was involved with.

The issue is we should help if not technically a part of the group, and not lead.

The wisest know we're all in this together, and one cause is not greater or lesser than the other.

Might make you feel good to be part of it as an activist but it tends to get awkward if such activists try too hard and take away the limelight from those who it is about.

[Luna Bliss]

6 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

Might make you feel good to be part of it as an activist but it tends to get awkward if such activists try too hard and take away the limelight from those who it is about.

I'm sure this exists but I haven't experienced it. When helping a group not technically my own they've always welcomed the assistance, and when another in an 'out group' helped my cause I was grateful.

The most gets done when we all come together and care about each other.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

36 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

I agree it can be irritating when companies put on a Pride or Black History event one time each year, then ignore those people the rest of the year. The last company I worked for had hardly any black employees, so their Black History treats seemed kind of tone-deaf, with red kool-aid, banana pudding, and ? (I don't remember if they had fried chicken too.)

Omg. Annnnnnnnnnnd, this is why I want to be ignored. 😳