The Revolution Will Not Be Incentivized

Could we use the newsletter revolution to—I don't know—equitably support BIPOC writers?

The Newsletter Revolution

When I get into something, I will research. I am truly enjoying writing on Substack, so I decided to look into the platform itself and learn about who is doing well, how to make good content, what kind of content audiences want, etc. Here’s what people are saying:

• We are in a newsletter revolution, and the “blog” is returning in a whole new way.

• Newsletters are a decentralized media platform that gives writers autonomy while being horrible for editors. (Though there are many “hidden and underpaid editors” behind some of the biggest substack newsletters.)

• For some reason, Substack is viewed as a politically neutral platform. So many writers are coming this way from various bigger news publications to carve a path for their content. (Yes, conservative and progressive alike)

• There’s even a conversation on newsletter burnout: what if…you amass a following of people who want you to read your work consistently and you run out of things to say? (Great, now I have a new fear to add to my list of fears, right?)

Newsletter Diversity in “Faith & Spirituality”

My research took me to think about how the “faith and spirituality” genre is doing on this platform. I counted two newsletters from Black Christians on the “top” list before I could scroll no longer.

Two. Just two.

I would not have had that perspective if I didn’t do this research and investigate. Partly because I am currently recommending some amazing Black and Latinx folks in my recommendations list and I plan to add more BIPOC as I find myself happy to do so. I recommend them because, well, I am biased. They are my friends. But I also recommend them because they are amazing writers who deserve to be recognized and read. But I have a question for you all:

Could we use the newsletter revolution to—I don't know—equitably support BIPOC writers?

The White Gaze

I will continue to follow the public conversations about this “newsletter revolution.” I will continue to critique that white men in tech and finance are making hundreds of thousands on this platform. I will ask myself questions that challenge the perception that any platform/company can be “politically neutral.”

I include this quote from Natasha Marin, who curated the collection of poems and essays called Black Imagination, because it continues to inspire my praxis, which is to decenter whiteness in my justice framework, in spiritual formation, in teaching, in life, etc. Even in my tweets.

“Dear Soft Black Woman” centers Black women and still, I find people disturbingly missing the point and centering themselves in the content shared. I still find myself resisting the stereotypes I talk about in my daily life because I host this podcast. I still find myself being sought out to mammy non-Black women+femmes. I still find myself…restless, as I work to spread this message about rest.

It feels vulnerable to share the conversations I share through the podcast to an audience of people who may not understand this:

The conversations on the podcast are likely the conversations that the Black women+ in your life are having when you are not around. So hearing them from me and the guests on the show makes you privy to access you likely do not deserve and will spend a lifetime trying to earn.

Decentering whiteness in my podcast meant—and continues to mean—I don’t ask questions like, “what do white listeners need to hear?” And because of this, I assume, many people rule themselves out if they do not “relate to the content,” like they rule out a movie with an all-Black cast if there are no white characters they can relate to.

We are freeing ourselves: an invitation to witness

There is a beauty to what is happening now for so many of us BIPOC folks who are setting up Substack profiles, especially when we think about how hard it is for so many of us to get published. To be able to build your own publication, write what you want, and center who you want to center…it’s beautiful.

In my research, I did not see anything about how this newsletter revolution is helping us, BIPOC writers, free our minds. The tension is this: Behind platforms that create a space for creators/their audience: Substack, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube…is the mind of an opportunistic white man. I cannot help but think of “him” and how much he is making off of us contributing to this world “he” has built. And on the flipside, I remember 15-year-old Rose, newly “natural,” with a short afro looking up YouTube videos and discovering the world of Black women’s hair, self-love, and freedom.

I will not resolve this tension, but I will say, as we free ourselves from the white gaze—all are invited to witness. And that witnessing is a form of liberation for all.

Gentle writing for a gentle landing

I did not start this newsletter to get rich. I have invested in it over Patreon in these last few months because I love how focused it is on writing. I love connecting with people about what I am writing. I love being in a community with other writers. This platform is giving me these things.

I write about “gentle landing” because there are so many ways we can all work on resisting the pull of capitalism and production on our bodies. For those of us who live in bodies that have historically been tied to the oppression of slavery, gentle landing is justice.

Justice can be beautiful, restful, imaginative, generative, creative, funny, sweet, and wholesome. For many of us, decentering whiteness in the work we produce supports our pathways to liberation.

Landing Tracks:

• Go to these links to explore the Substack writers I am recommending. Follow and bare witness to the ways we are finding our voices, creating worlds where we are “safe, valued, and loved” in the writing we share. If you have the privilege to do so, opt for paid subscriptions for BIPOC writers when you can.

• For today’s meditation, I will read from the imagination of Erwin Thomas, who writes Black Imagination in response to the prompt: “imagine a world where you are safe, valued, and loved.”