A Statement on Statements
Destie, May 27, 2021
We typically publish our work in the third person, speaking on behalf of The Maine Women’s Lobby using ‘we’ as the collective pronoun. I wanted to write a short piece from my own perspective though – as Destie, in part because I’m the current leader of the organization and the person responsible for our statements, but also because I am a human working through my own journey toward anti-racism, anti-oppression, and as a white leader of an organization seeking to serve a broader community.
When events that intersect with our issues become part of the public dialogue, I am often balancing competing concerns:
- As an organization focused on a policy response to structural misogyny and oppression, it is important to name and hold space for current events that highlight these issues (especially when in a policy or political space).
- When events also intersect with racism and white supremacy, it is essential for white leaders to name these systems. Yet as a historically white-led organization, I often wonder whether our statements are meaningfully serving the community, or simply take up space that we should be stepping back from.
- I am uncomfortable with what I sometimes perceive as grand-standing, virtue-signaling, or other self-promotion which underly some ‘statements.’ I believe we are doing the work on our organizational culture, not simply issuing statements. I would like our work to speak to our commitment, but I am also aware that people largely won’t know about work we don’t share or at least reflect publicly.
- We are a small organization, and sensitive to the need to balance a timely response with current capacity. We also, as humans, experience tragic public events as others do. I want my staff to have time to process, and also to stop working in time to have dinner with their families every day. Sometimes we simply miss a window of ‘timeliness’ in order for the individuals in our team to have balance.
- On a personal front, I am less inclined than others may be to invest my (and our) time resources into social media, so I sometimes don’t feel as connected to the time-sensitive nature of statements that follow news-worthy events. I try to prioritize work that is actively meeting our mission, and that sometimes takes place in a social media sphere, and often doesn’t.
Even this statement feels uncomfortably self-focused and ‘navel-gazing’ to me (are my New England roots resisting public disclosure showing?). But I also feel whole-heartedly committed to candid and ethical communication, and I believe transparency is a path to building an accountable community. By exploring some of what is behind this process (at least for us (me!)), I hope to make a space for other folks to reflect on their own process of reading or developing public statements following news events.
Events will happen again which are fueled by misogyny, oppression, and abuse of power. We will find ourselves in a position again wondering if it is the right time to make a statement, and if we can be authentic messengers for that statement. When that time comes, I won’t always get it right. We won’t always get it right. I – and we - *will* always welcome respectful feedback and critique, and we hope you’ll be partners with us in that work.