Shout Out to NaNoWriMo

I didn’t put out my usual Wednesday quote post. I can’t claim any particular reason, except for being caught up in the emotion of current events.

I want to speak out against white supremacy and race-based violence, but haven’t found the words to do so. I’m here to be an ally and will be listening and reading more so I can improve my efforts.

Many messages are coming from many directions. I’d like to share one from NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, a writing event & platform many writers love.

Their newsletter this week said:

We’ve sent a couple of messages that have included anti-racist books and reading lists and suggested organizations that could use your donations right now. We’ll include a few more links below.

The next paragraph surprised and saddened me:

We’ve gotten some questions from writers in our community who ask why we’re getting involved here, even in our small way.

Whoa. Apparently some NaNo writers did not like receiving anti-racism information from NaNoWriMo.

Their answer was spot on, IMHO:

We’re involved because we love and care about Black people.

We’re involved because we want to help remove all obstacles to writing creatively, meaningfully, and joyfully. Time, money, and energy are obstacles for all writers that we talk about all the time, and white supremacy, racism, and bigotry make these obstacles loom even larger.

We’re involved because we feel a responsibility to challenge our own assumptions and learn more about white supremacy culture and anti-Blackness in the United States, past and present, so that we can avoid further contributing to those legacies.

Thank goodness this writing group didn’t back down. Anti-racism exists in all parts of everyday living, so how can we relegate changing this to only certain segments?

This message came via NaNoWriMo’s newsletter. I asked for permission to share that newsletter link and was given it. Read the entire letter and access the offered resource links here.

Black lives matter.