John Sonmez

.@KimCrayton1 and friends... would you be willing to have an open call and talk? I'm happy to record and post it with no edits. I can probably also get @simpleprogrammr to come. All I ask is that everyone be civil during the discussion.

Why would anyone take on the burden of allowing a bully like John to continue harming them? You're putting civility over safety, and by continuing to try and give him a platform, you're directly contributing to the harm he has done.

It's not Black women's responsibility or duty to educate and correct people who are purposefully and willfully abusing and bullying. Asking Kim and others to do that work is wrong and selfish.

Would you all be more comfortable if I came and asked questions? Leave @simpleprogrammr out of it?

I think a discussion about the degree of political correctness and identity politics in tech would be very interesting. But I think you’d have to find the right people who can be calm, listen and act in good faith. You’ll be vilified no matter what though.

The people most interested in PC / civility / calmness are the least interested in changing the toxicity and white supremacist infrastructure that it rests on. When you say "You'd have to find the right people who can be calm", you're centering civility over content.

You might be surprised how many people share your concerns but simply prefer different approaches to discussing them. It doesn’t seem productive to me to ascribe ill intentions out of the gate. I also think you are framing this as a false dichotomy.

When you force white patriarchy "civility" rules on anti-oppression work you effectively silence us. You are trying to force us into a status quo tone that inevitably upholds the status quo aka white patriarchy.