Where'd she go?

It's been almost a month since my last post. I actually wrote a post December 19, which mentioned the work of a couple of American Indian activist/workers, and I wanted to get their permission before publishing the post. I heard back from one, and am still waiting to hear from the other. I won't publish that post until I do, which means I may not publish that post.

This is, for me, part of being a white anti-racist. That may seem craven: "Oh, you get permission from people of color before you do anything?" Well, no. White people have our work to do on racism and issues of white privilege in particular, just as people of color have their work to do. We need to practice good followership and we need to take initiative.

But white people often do things for well-intentioned reasons that have unintended results. Even racist outcomes. So, checking in with my friends is important for several reasons.

1) It shows I am trying not to take them or their work for granted.
2) It shows I am aware that white people have appropriated the images, ideas, property, names, art, and land of American Indians for centuries, and I don't want to and am trying not to perpetuate that.
3) It shows that I am attempting good followership, and trying to open myself to being accountable to them for my thinking and my work products.

Later blog posts will say more about appropriation, followership, and accountability. For now, I just wanted to say there was a reason for the wait. Just as there are reasons to keep working while I keep waiting.