Decolonizing Babywearing

Voices and Thoughts of POC in the Babywearing community. (Site Art: "Madre" by Alejandra Oseguera).

[decolonizingbabywearing]

[Description: Image of an Aztec Sacrificial Stone.] Image taken from page 130 of 'Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican: or historical, geographical, political, statistical and social account of that country from the period of the invasion to the present time: with a view of the ancient Aztec Empire

It’s NOT Just a Design

By Gia R. Moreno

Often when threads come up in the baby wearing world about CA, we always hear, “It’s just a design” and are told to calm down. But what really is just a design? Let’s look at this from an art and historical point of view.

In art what you’re looking at is design and pattern. A design is more like a drawing and a pattern is the repetition of the same elements in a certain space. Some patterns can be just that a pattern. A repetition of lines and shapes. There really isn’t much to the pattern other than the aesthetic appeal of the arrangement. In design however, there is a very deliberate structure to how things are placed. Most design is used to tell a story.

Now let’s look at design from a cultural perspective. 

Historically, for many cultures, designs in fabric, on pottery, and in artwork are there to tell a story or to recognize something of importance. From the plaids on kilts, to African Kente cloth, to Navajo (Diné) rugs. The colors, the symbols, the shapes, and even the names of the fabric all hold special meaning. Some of these meanings are very personal, even spiritual. On the surface, if you’re just looking at the design, you may not know that. You may just enjoy the color and the design. When we look at most modern renditions of cultural textiles, we find that a lot of them are culturally appropriated. A lot of companies have designs that are “inspired” by a certain culture or a holiday from a culture. What most people don’t realize is that these designs may hold very significant meanings for people.

I often hear in discussions that people should not take offense to others using designs that are CA, because the intent wasn’t to offend. I really dislike that argument. Just because you don’t intend to offend anyone, doesn’t mean that you should never be remorseful for it or that you should never try to right the wrong. It absolutely doesn’t mean that you should ignore it or try to diminish the feelings of those that are offended. If I accidentally knock someone over, is it OK for me to just step over them and then knock someone else down? 

When we look at things like Sugar Skulls, Tipis, Chinese Dragons, cultural patterns, etc, we need to recognize that those are not “just a design.” They are things that people hold dear to them, and that people have fought and died to protect. When immigrants came here, or when First Nations/Native American people were invaded, they were told that they needed to assimilate. They had to drop all of what they were in order to become a part of “society.” It’s very unfair that companies are now able to take these stolen designs and use them for their own profit. Rarely do these companies work with the people that they are appropriating from, and rarely is recognition given.

We need to be more aware that the designs that we are looking at are sacred to people. It’s not a matter of over sensitivity. It’s a matter of protecting what belongs to someone and using it in the way that it should be. Cultures are beautiful and should be shared. Cultural exchange is a meaningful and wonderful thing. Everyone gives and everyone receives. In cultural appropriation, someone takes and doesn’t give back. Yes your sugar skull tula is cute. Yes your Didy India is beautiful. Yes your Oscha Okinami is awesome, but they’re all stolen designs from other cultures. They are all reminders of how it’s OK for white people to use the designs, but not OK for the people that they originated from. They are reminders of the fact that “they just want our stuff, but they don’t want us.” And no #notall people that buy or use these things have that intent, but the further purchase or ignoring of the issue helps to perpetuate it.

The next time that you go to buy a carrier, some clothes, a rug, etc, please make sure that you are aware of what you’re buying. Put yourself into the position of the person that is getting appropriated, and listen to the voices around you. No, not everything that offends me will offend you, nor will everything that offends you will offend me. I will however take your feelings into consideration. I will avoid hurting someone after being made aware of it. We’re not trying to control people, we just want to get some respect.

[decolonizingbabywearing]

[Image Description] Photo taken from behind of an indigenous grandmother holding a small child. She has her hair up in a bun. She is wearing glasses and looks outwards from a building towards the light of the outside. The image has an overlay of an instagram filter. There is also black text which overlays the image that says "I have to say that the traditional role is kind of a myth. I think the traditional Mexican woman is a fierce woman - Sandra Cisneros"]

[decolonizingbabywearing]

Educating fellow leaders

(submission from juliachenier)

I'm a queer black woman living in east Texas, heart of the bible belt. I belong to a fairly new, very white local babywearing group.

By very white, I mean as far as I know, I'm the only non white-presenting person that has ever stayed through a whole meeting. I recently volunteered myself into a leadership position, despite several months of being ignored in person and attended our first leader's meeting yesterday afternoon. The group was small, six women including myself, and very informal.

I am sure that they didn't prepare for the meeting like I did. In front of a mirror, practicing smiling while speaking so that I wouldn't be called aggressive, AGAIN. Or that they didn't make sure to arrive early, stay late to clean or keep an extra eye on the children during the afternoon. So that I wouldn't later be called mean, disrespectful, lazy or any of the descriptors I am regularly given when approaching people about their privilege.

I styled my hair, wore the local mom outfit of a long shirt and leggings, brought carefully prepared homemade snacks and my brand name wraps. I did my best to appear friendly and relateable, to make my points easier to digest.

The talk covered: ·an extremely brief history of the main types of carriers ·appropriation vs. appreciation ·steering away from savior complex ·making meetings more accessible for all ·avoiding using offensive language · not shaming DIY carriers ·avoiding microaggressive behaviors ·buying from responsible brands ·how to conduct our online group

When I spoke on why I don't support beloved brands, I was questioned more intensely than when I opened up for questions on traditional carriers being modernized.

"What, exactly, did my favorite brand do?"

"What do they have to do to be deemed good again?"

My description of previously being served microaggressions in front of the majority who attended yesterday's meeting was met with resistance. As I sat there attempting to educate, my lived experience was invalidated yet again by my students and peers. I felt requested to change my tone although it was neutral, if not friendly. I blamed myself out loud for them by saying that I was often misinterpreted due to my direct nature. Instead of saying that I've regularly been accused by groups of white women of being aggressive as a tactic to deflect from their privilege making them uncomfortable. I spoke briefly on assimilation and how painful it is to be forced to ignore parts of yourself to make others comfortable enough to hear your voice.

There is no doubt that they didn't understand that I was speaking about how they made me feel in ALL of our previous interactions. Or how I had to plan my words and actions so carefully in order to be looked at as close to them in babywearing experience, or as a human.

Yet again I prioritized those that needed education, over myself, and the other people who are suffering, due to the ignorance that their privilege affords them. I coddled them. By not telling them how I set a reminder two days ahead of every meeting to emotionally prepare to be ignored. I also didn't let them know how at two meetings obvious people of color have walked in and gone unacknowledged by everyone but myself until they walked out upset. I didn't tell them how it hurt my feelings to give advice online in our group regularly all year but to have been asked only one meeting before how to spell my name. I didn't let them know that I fought back tears as I once again went through spelling Julia as if it couldn't possibly fit me although I was named after both my grand and great grandmothers.

What I didn't do was allow ignorance to be an excuse. I didn't allow myself to be spoken over. I made sure that even when time was running low, that I touched on all the topics so that the window was open for later discussion. Saying there was a need to unpack that room is an understatement but I will continue to try.

As I left I felt heard, but after thinking, it appears that I was acknowledged just enough to be resisted. Immediately after leaving, I wrote down my thoughts in a message to a friend and then waited to compose this piece until I had reflected a bit. Once I had said friend read my first draft, she asked why the article was so emotionally distant when it had potential not to be and this was part of my response:

"I'm tired of being upset, it's draining and I'm making excuses for people who won't give me the same courtesy. I'm so accustomed to being ignored that being acknowledged feels like an accomplishment even though I have to change my demeanor and coddle to get the crumbs that are given to me as if I should be appreciative."

Truly, I am tired. I am incredibly tired of triggering myself in order to educate those more privileged than I will ever be. I am frustrated that I cannot be considered equal without first giving a detailed list of pain inflicted upon my soul. Even if not specifically asked to, my experience educating has shown me the necessity of making myself the example.

As tired as I am, I will continue. My children have to grow up in this world and as a parent, it is my responsibility to give them the most positive life experience possible.

I see no other option.

[decolonizingbabywearing]

Shit White Babywearers Say #1

“This is a group about Babywearing and spreading the Babywearing love. We are here to love and support the Babywearing community. It has nothing to do with race.”

“All comments that are not on topic will be deleted (this post is about this Babywearing mama’s halloween costume)”

Every time someone posts something problematic and a PoC calls out the harmful sentiment, I will countdown the number of comments before I will see someone try to shut down the conversation because “Babywearing is not about race”

You know what else isn’t about race? Working a job. Yet I have to deal with my race being brought up as part of a dog-eating joke in the office.

You know what else isn’t about race? Walking home after work on Friday night. Yet I have to deal with drunk white girls that slow down next to me to call me names.

You know what else isn’t about race? Trying to find a room for rent. Yet I get lectured about how my “people” don’t recycle as part of the (rejected) application process.

And that’s just a few examples personal to me, a Han Chinese woman.

In North America, Black women are being targetted, assaulted and murdered while going to a weekend pool party, driving down the road. Native American/First Nations women are being assaulted and murdered in their homes, on the streets.

Being a person of color is part of our identities and very much part of our lives.

I would love nothing more than not to have to my race thrown in my face while working, walking, babywearing. It is privilege to be able to do these things without having to endure harmful aggressions, both micro and macro, because of my race.

I cannot compartmentalize part of my identity for your discomfort.

When you shut down these discussions- especially when you are an admin or leader of a space- you are saying you don’t care about people of color. You don’t care that there is harm being done.

You are saying your desire to own a pretty design, however problematic, is more important than the harm it does to PoC to have their culture appropriated

You are saying your misguided interest in an offensive Disney caricature is more important than the harm it does to PoC to continue being exoticized and stereotyped.

You are saying your need for a bubble of privilege free from critical examination is more important than holding space for the marginalized people that are also part of the Babywearing community you profess to love and support.

[decolonizingbabywearing]

Reconciling Social Justice and Babywearing

Hello! I'm a multiracial/ethnic Latinx Deaf PanQueer Femme. Prior to becoming pregnant and becoming a mother, I had identified as an intersectional social justice activist for several years. Intersectional social justice is infused in my personal and professional lives, but not without cost. I've faced professional repercussions for my involvement in social justice, and I've went from being a social butterfly to someone who carefully cultivates a small circle of chosen family and friends who share similar liberation politics. But social justice frameworks of understanding and analyzing the world has remained steadfast for me, with the frameworks continuing to expand and become more complex over time. I have always thought of raising children as creating agents of change for future generations; and that's the main principle that guides me as a parent. Though my LO is now only a few months old, I continue to keep imagining ways I can raise consciousness as our child grows up, with empathy, compassion, and prioritizing the liberation of self and others. 

My descent into BW was not expected. My LO was born in early March, and during pregnancy I figured that my mamihood obsession was going to be cloth diapering, and worked to build up a stash. I obliged with accepting some secondhand stretchy wraps, but neatly rolled them up and put them in a box in the baby's dresser and ignored them. It was not until I grudgingly attended a local cloth diapering event, after realizing that I didn't have the patience or perseverance to cloth diaper, that I asked for a woven wrap demo, and was taught one with a volunteer sign-language interpreter present (a rarity to have such access at events, which I hope to get into in another post). 

Back at home, I practiced a bit with the Moby some more, with the sling, and a few more times with the Lenny Lamb wrap I bought at the cloth diaper event. Wanting to geek out on Lenny Lamb, I went on their website and... ahem. Saw their calavera wrap designs. I froze. I'm Latina. Día de Los Muertos is sacred to me. Anti-cultural appropriation is a major family value of ours. But now I owned an item from a company that culturally appropriates. What do I do? That was the first signal that I was getting myself into something completely different than the "SJ world" I created for myself and am trying to create for my growing family. Based on my brief personal experiences and observations, here are some main things I've noticed about BW in the U.S. that comes in direct conflict with my SJ values. 

Cultural Appropriation

This topic is definitely discussed in some BW spaces, but not enough. And, of course, any CA discussion brings in the chorus of It's not theft, it's INSPIRATION! Racism isn't a real thing. Race has nothing to do with BW. But I think it's pretty! So I'm a bad person because I like my Oscha? 

A remaining aspect that still feels problematic to me is the practice of: "this person from x group created this textile, so we can now wear it and it is not CA." Here are some of my thoughts on this:

- Ownership, permission, and sharing are main tenets of anti-CA practices. Honoring the ownership of the products, belief of a marginalized group; being granted permission to use/carry out said products/beliefs; and there being a spirit of sharing AFTER ownership was honored/recognized/credited and permission was granted. 

-When we have a wrap created by person of x group, it seems at first glance that there is ownership/permission/sharing. I offer: if a person from a privileged group - y group- responsible for the systematic marginalization of people from x group wears a wrap with a pattern created by a person of x group, does that not perpetuate the practice of people from y groups wearing alllll the wraps of allll the marginalized groups? I feel it is too easy for me to go to a BW meetup with a wrap with textiles not from my own cultural group, and for a BWer with no desire to learn about CA politics and anti-racism to go, "hey that is super pretty! I'm gonna add to my extensive appropriated wrap collection now!" In this instance, it becomes clear that ownership/permission/sharing becomes easily lost in a large, competitive market like BW and woven wraps. Most people are gonna be assholes about CA and actively resist and gaslight people who speak out against CA. Therefore, how sustainable is it for us to wear textiles created/inspired by from groups that aren't our own, if it may indirectly perpetuate CA in other instances?

But to complicate the narrative: at the same time, if we see European brands -cough cough Natibaby cough cough Hoppediz- actively exploit marginalized groups without ownership/permission/sharing, why wouldn't we support a member of x group creating something from their heritages, because it's better than a mega-business/corporation completely stealing from their cultural groups? My kneejerk reaction would be, of course! I'd rather support the person from x group's creation and products rather than exploitative mega businesses who have no interest in collaborating with x groups. 

But how do we keep track of ownership/permission/sharing? For me, I still refrain from wearing patterns clearly from cultural groups that are not my own, because of my own principles and also because I do not want to inadvertently perpetuate CA practices. In fact, I even go as far as to not wear any calavera print products, because of my white-presenting privileges and the fact that most people will assume me to be a white woman wearing "sugar skulls" and go "oh wow, that is so cool! I'm gonna get one too!"- and not think about anti-CA or anti-racism. It's too slippery of a slope, in my perspective. 

Capitalism and Consumerism

As a former socialist/remaining anti-capitalist, the BW market was a complete and total trip to me. But I dove into it, and hard. Because while I'm anti-capitalism, I recognize that I life it every day, and I am complicit with capitalism. My credit cards are happy. My mental peace about our finances are not.

Many moments in the past few months, I've had to tell myself to pause and say "why am I lusting after this wrap? Why am I crushed that I missed the release? Why am I emanating so much bitterness and jealousy when I see pictures of people who scored? Why do I feel like I am lacking something when I have more than several wraps already?" I've had to take these psychological steps in order to ward off toxic consumerism; and I'll be honest, it doesn't always work. I offer a perspective that our postpartum struggles, the struggle we have in getting social and even private recognition and validation for our psychological turbulence as new parents or parents of multiple children, becomes channeled into some heavy-duty turbulence. Scoring is a high. Chasing an unicorn is a high. Petting a new purchase is a high. Taking 500 selfies with new wraps is a high. But when we crash, we crash. How many of us have felt very alone in those crashes? I think we should talk about that some more. And for others living out SJ principles, we should talk about how to honestly unpack and be resilient about the daily effects engaging capitalism has on our mental well-being. 

Though there are deeply divisive perspectives on this issue, a main struggle I still have after a few months participating in the market is the concept of "market value" (MV). No matter how you slice it to me, the way I react to MV practices is that it's a grossly capitalistic way to exploit consumerist desires and obsessions/fetishizations. To rob the opportunity of others to pay retail or below because of high desirability is not okay. When done to make a profit, it's rooted in an individualistic pursuit that leans on the loss of another person. Now, others have said that they do MV to fund emergencies, dire situations. I would react by saying that this is part of the cycle. Fostering product fetishization, marking up products from their retail prices, creating a culture of consumerism, exacerbates dire family situations that need funds. What if we kept costs low and brands didn't play off on the psychology of materialism by hyping up new, limited releases? What if we were operating in a culture of care and collectivism instead of competition and scarcity? For those reasons, I do not price my resales at MV. I price at retail or below. I try to avoid the higher-end wraps, though I am continually tempted. But I work on living out values of collectivism rather than scarcity. 

It also is worth a mention that consumerism and materialism takes us far, far away from the BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color] roots of BW. Very far away. It makes act of BW shells of their long, ancestral heritages. And that in itself is an injustice. 

~

Like I often have received, I'm sure some will read this thinking I am angry, I am unrealistic, I need to bend. That's okay- those reactions are their own usual chorus. I share my thoughts out of, I feel, duty. There are many more layers and aspects of BW that require critique and unpacking. I believe we need to make those topics public discourse in the BW community. Because when we do this, we are actively honoring the roots of BW, and resisting it becoming commodified, whitewashed, decontextualized, gentrified. And I personally feel it is my responsibility to do it as the product of my lineages. I hope more will join in an create an authentic decolonial BW movement. 

[decolonizingbabywearing]

Hi! i was wondering if there would be a post discussing how U.S./European handwoven wraps are considered higher-end and pricier, more desirable than handwovens made in the Global South- and how it ties into BW economics/consumerism. I'd love to write something about this, but feel I am too new and with limited scope of knowledge, but I'm down to collab! thanks yall <3 heart

That is definitely on our list of topics and we look forward to many perspectives on it. So glad you are interested in participating and contributing to the site (heart)

[breachbangbloom]

Check Yo’self

I’m super fucking sick of hearing about how you hate the term “white people”. Let’s dance.

//

>You have grown up in a frontier nation that has ALWAYS perpetuated white supremacy. It is literally impossible for you, as a white person, NOT to be racist. Remember that racism is prejudice + power. Remember that white supremacy is conniving- not only desperate to survive but experienced in doing so. It’s been doing this longer than you’ve been alive; don’t let your ego convince you that you are somehow immune. You are not. If your feathers are ruffled & you feel you need to react– STOP. You’re only proving MY point. Remember that you can spend your ENTIRE life uprooting the racism with which you’ve been indoctrinated. But if you’re that white person who is constantly protesting & feeling the need to “defend” yourself (against WHAT, exactly?) in discussions of racism, then you’re also that white person who is NOT doing the self-work necessary to empty the buckets of white supremacy out of your boat. You’re too busy preenin’.

//

>“We are not here for kumbaya. If you’re mad, good. You should be. Racism is not something you should feel good about.” -BGD (Check your lipstick before you come for me, boo.)

//

>The other thing about growing up in this type of culture is the pathological way in which it teaches you, especially as a white person, that you are an individual FIRST & FOREMOST. You’ve then internalized this to the point that you have an emotional connection to it, & an emotional reaction to any perceived threat to it. Do not be fucking fooled- it robs you of your ability to accurately notice patterns, to see the systematic, to think globally. & do not be fucking fooled- that is precisely the point. As long as you walk around only thinking locally- thinking of yourself as a human being interacting with another human being, with no regard or respect for the ways in which we are different- you fail to appreciate valuable context. It’s why microaggressions exists. It’s why cultural appropriation exists. The list goes on.

//

>I have NEVER - not motherfucking ONCE - seen a comment from a white person complaining about being called “white people” that ALSO complained about the phrasing “Black people” or “Indian people” etc. Because white people aren’t the only group of people that are referred to by race, & oftentimes, they refer to others in the EXACT SAME WAY THEY HATE TO BE REFERRED BY (i.e. “Asian drivers blah blah” or “Gays blah blah”). Why? Because y'all stay concerned with YOUR OWN DAMN SELVES, & it is TIRED.

//

>Let’s be real, white people complaining about being called exactly what they are is the ultimate in white privilege & bullshit. It’s a centering of your irrelevant feelings in a discussion about oppression at the expense of actual damage that people of color experience, & this is what Black Grrl Dangerous means when she talks about how y'all participate DAILY in systems of oppression. Whether you intend to or not, whether you know it or not. This is one of those ways.

//

>So for the love of Batman, stop prioritizing your feelings. You’ve been taught by your culture that, as an (white) individual, your feelings always matter & your voice should always be heard & your opinions are always welcome/relevant. Push back against this, because not only is it a lie, but it is an OPPRESSIVE one. An *actively* oppressive one. You’re down for the cause? Put your $ where your mouth is.

//

>& on that note, you’re going to fuck up. You are. It’s part of the process because we’re human beings & these systems are fucking insidious & require, as Mad Eye Moody would say, constant vigilance! BUT HOW YOU RESPOND, AS A WHITE PERSON, AFTER YOU FUCK UP SPEAKS MOTHERFUCKING VOLUMES TO US. We need you to be more invested in this work, in destroying the structures of an oppressive culture, than you are in your identity. Please don’t be that white person who fucks up & then lists your resume of anti-racist/feminist work as if that changes anything– INTENT DOES NOT MATTER AS MUCH AS IMPACT. Read it one more again. You don’t have to intend to be oppressive to indeed be oppressive. You can be Tim Wise or Ani Difranco but if you get called out when you fuck up & your response is to defend, deny, laundry list your resume, drag your feet, apologize ad nauseam & insist you’re a Good PersonTM (like Nice GuysTM), etc. – then your actions are showing YOU STILL DON’T GET IT, when it’s MOST important TO get it.

//

>We need you to be more concerned with how your fuck up is oppressive & how it affects people of color & how you’re going to (quietly) internalize the lesson so you don’t repeat the behavior than how YOU feel about it & how you think of yourself. Fucking up doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person; this work is like staying clean. The same way you don’t brush your teeth this morning & now consider your teeth clean for the rest of your life. You have to brush daily, several times a day. But every time you center your feelings in a discussion, you erase & silence people & voices & issues that are much more important to the ultimate goal. Which is not about white feelings or the stock you’ve placed in your identities, but destroying the monster (racism, oppression) your ancestors created.

//

>So put your $ where your mouth is, yo.

[decolonizingbabywearing]

[image description - three photos of the art piece which is a yellow rebozo hanging against a blank wall. It is draped symmetrically over two hooks. The first photo is a shot from the front and we can see the whole rebozo in the frame. The second photo is a shot from the side displaying the layers of rebozo that have been carefully folded and draped over the wall hooks. The third photo is a macroshot of the fridge of the rebozo]

On display in Nao Bustamante’s “Soldadera” exhibition at the Vincent Price Art Museum is a rebozo made of Kevlar. The shawl – often used by women to carry childern – hangs on the wall like a burden and a gift. In its drape, we feel the rebozo’s weight. Contextualized by the exhibition’s focus on women’s participation in the Mexican Revolution, we feel the heavy and often-untold history the rebozo carries. It cradles that history. Arrullando y levantandome, lulling me and waking me, I visit the rebozo and wonder if I am being asked to carry its story or if it is asking to carry me. How am I, and how are we, responsible to the story? If we could form a safe harbor by slinging it across our own shoulders and chests, whose weight, what bodies would we carry with it?

Read the entire piece here - http://www.kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/los-angeles/mexican-revolution-soldaderas-untold-stories-armor-rebozo.html

[decolonizingbabywearing]

[Image Description : This is a group portrait of the author Gia, a Chicana woman, and her children. The photo is set against a nighttime backdrop with colorful lights in the background. Gia has shoulder length black hair and is wearing a dark outfit. She is babywearing a young child on her back who has a hoodie on. Next to her is an older child smiling at the camera]

My name is Gia Moreno. I self identify as a Chicana. I am a mother of two, an artist, a fighter for social justice, and a teacher. Oh, and I also babywear.

I was drawn to help curate this space because it is so desperately needed. As I wander the Internet reading this thread and that blog, this article and that post, I find that frequently the voices of people of color are drowned out, dismissed, or disputed. When a person of color goes out of his or her way to engage in a conversation about a carrier whether they are discussing cultural appropriation or traditional use, they are often shut down. They are often told that they are too sensitive, that they don’t know what they’re talking about, that they’re trolling.

This space was created because we feel that we’re not the only ones who want our stories heard. We’re not the only ones wanting to hear about issues that babywearing POCs have from the voices of POCs, and not from someone who doesn’t fully understand what we have gone through and what we continue to go through. We can’t be the only ones who want to hear and share these stories, these concerns, these ideas without fear of being shut down or shut out because of fear, pride, or ego.

So welcome to Decolonizing Babywearing. Feel free to submit your ideas, your writing, and your concerns. We look forward to hearing them.

[decolonizingbabywearing]

[Image Description: Potrait of the author of this post, Sarah an Anishinaabe woman. Photo is taken from the side and she is turned to face the camera. Her hair is tied back and she wears thick-rimmed black glasses. She has a tattoos depicting foliage over her shoulder that is visible from this angle. She is wearing her baby (who is wearing a black and white polka dot hoodie) in a purple and white wrap]

Allyship to indigenous people.

Sarah Nanibush

July 2015

Since I became pregnant in December 2013, I started to delve into the world of babywearing.

Previously, I was an activist in the broader social justice world regarding indigenous rights across the globe. I started to notice something very disheartening in the babywearing world.

Like the dominant western society, indigenous people were overlooked, ignored, and silenced in the contemporary babywearing world. People posting historical pictures of indigenous women carrying their babies on their back as if indigenous women are only a relic of the past - conquered by the American/Canadian society.

This was extremely problematic to me. There were so many instances where people would try and use their heritage to derail the conversation and deflect the blame from themselves for appropriating or saying openly racist things about indigenous people, ESPECIALLY women, who are already at a higher rate of violence. #MMIW

This lack of allyship in the babywearing world is not limited to white people however, and there have been many incidents where other poc have threatened my safety and spoke over me as if cultural appropriation and sexualization of our women is fine and dandy because it looked "cute"

This blog will explore these issues from my perspective as an Anishinaabe woman, living in what is now popularly known as Canada, in addition to other poc voices.

This is a very needed space to talk issues as poc in order to decolonize.

Below is a document for ally responsibilities to indigenous people by Dr. Lynn Gehl, Anishinaabe scholar and activist.

http://www.lynngehl.com/uploads/5/0/0/4/5004954/ally_bill_of_responsibilities_poster.pdf

Please read this to see how you can become a better ally.

[decolonizingbabywearing]

“Mothers who love their children take them along” - The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston

[Image Description: Chinese woman wiwth long black hair swept to a side is standing at an angle to the camera and looking directly at the camera with a smile. She is wearing dark rimmed glasses, an orange amber necklace and a black strapped top. She is carrying an infant on her back in a torso back carry with a Storchenwiege Organic Eric woven wrap. The wrap has strips of different shades of blue]

Welcome to Decolonizing Babywearing. I am Yazhi (孫雅稚), one of the curators of this space. I am Chinese from the city of Taishan (台山), Guangdong province (廣東).

I am a babywearering educator and working mama to three beautiful children.

The advance of technology and social media has really been a catalyst in connecting people within the babywearing community and by extension, natural parenting community. With that, these online communities that share a common interest in baby carriers and parenting topics start reflecting our wider society in observed behaviors.

Not all these behaviors are desirable. In fact, a lot of it is harmful to people of color. I’ve personally experienced and witnessed cultural appropriation, whitewashing of babywearing history, aggression towards people of color both blatant and micro-level and yes, many many white tears from people that do not recognize their privilege, clutch pearls at the very notion that they may be (unknowingly) racist and how their actions perpetuate imperialism.

The babywearing community severely lacks in PoC representation. Every time our community experiences incidents pertaining to PoC issues, the same organizations and blogs that also have questionable representation are at the forefront.

The latest incident with Hoppediz’s poor decision  has the community in outrage. Yet the blog post widely circulated as a response is from a white woman with a history of coopting PoC struggles and gaining popularity and views by stepping on the backs of PoCs.

It was this incident that prompted me to gather other like-minded individuals with a passion for babywearing and social justice to start a community-driven tumblr to amplify the voices of PoC.

As curators, we would be reviewing submissions from other PoC writers to publish and share. You may send your submissions through on this page. Please take note of the Submission guidelines before you click Submit.

If you have any questions, please feel free to use the Ask A Question page.

We also have a Links page with some of our favorite resources.