#seatatthetable

[sapphademicblackgirl]

I listen to rap music as a dark academic to scare the normies. 

Good luck excluding me from a seat at the table in your academia space. I’ve built my own chair, cleared a spot, and I will sit there. Whether you’re afraid of my blackness or not. 

I’ve seen far, far too much erasure of my beautiful, yet sad experience of being a black gay women in dark academia and I said fuck it, and decided that I will take up my own space by any means necessary. 

[de7en-mua]

🍋.

[seatatthetableapp]

[seatatthetableapp]

[seatatthetableapp]

[seatatthetableapp]

[ibogard]

#Yaaaoooo peace world; give thanks to God- The Most High! A new dawn, a new day; a new life.. I'm not sure I can quite express what is so basic, so right, so utterly human about cookin and eatin together. As far back as you can go in history, you find human beings gatherin around tables for the purpose of eating together. Offering food and water is an instinctive act of courtesy in almost every culture around the world. In the Bible and Jewish-Christian tradition, breaking bread together is perhaps both the humblest and the most meaningful reflection of unity… Here at the table with @BonsuDreamz @iTsSeanC @SeanDon_GG - Shot fired by @LeniseIsMyName • #BreakingBread #aTableBeforeMe #SeatAtTheTable #BeHumble #SitDown #Kings #Queen #RegalFam #RoyalFlyness #Swaganomatry #Hustlersinstyle #Catchusifucan Cc #princeoffashionmikeb #flyfisher (at Settepani) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgrxWIAufeH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[russelllamon]

why i'm no longer interested in a seat at the table...

For far too long, members of oppressed communities have longed and fought tirelessly for our rightful "seat at the table." Whether that table is in the decision-making process for equity in education, food security, or merely representation for one of our many intersecting identities, the desire to have a voice in the structures we exist in has been a priority for many of us. This is rooted in the fact that we have been left off the invite list far too often, both by accident and quite frankly by intentional design. Amid social unrest following the murders of our dear siblings in culture and humanity, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and the privileged sudden arrival of the critical need to address the lack of equity and access for Black and IPOC, the requests for our unheard voices are finally being put forth. The red carpet has rolled out, and room for us is finally "being made." While I am ecstatic for the journey of my people finally receiving their flowers and rightful membership to the decision- making process, I'm no longer interested in confirming the RSVPs sent my way, at least to a certain extent. I'm no longer interested in being a part of tables I have no ownership in because most likely, these invitations come with limits, limits I'm no longer interested in shrinking myself.

When the privileged extend their invitation to the tables of power and access, the request is often rooted in the fact that they still have complete ownership. Yes- you want my voice at your table, but is my voice merely performative representation, or does my invitation come with an invite that extends far beyond just dinner. I'm not interested in a one night only rendezvous; it's time for me and mines to move in and have a say so in the house rules moving forward. If your invite cannot accommodate this necessary request, respectfully, I must decline. I refuse to be the representative, "safe one" that assuages your guilt and develops your talking points on how you were "part of the revolution" simply because you let me in the front door this time and offered me a chair, rather than requiring me to come around back and using my presence for merely picking up the chairs of your unfamiliar guests whose visit surrounded decision making for my livelihood.

I don't say this as advice moving you not to accept invites to the table, but as an appeal to you to accept invites that give you the ownership you deserve. Anything less is disrespectful and quite frankly a waste in the long run because let's face it, we no longer have time for bandaging long-standing gaping wounds. The scab of performative equity that has so desperately protected the deep wounds of white supremacy and every phobia and ism rooted in the foundation of this country has been ripped off. We're out of bandages, and it's time for us to be the medics of our own care. Until then, I'll be at the Lowe's picking up my wood and materials for a lovely mahogany dining set. One that will provide ownership to the voices of the people and space for conversation and the reimagining of a truly liberated world.

-russell boyd ii, july 2020