Hey guys, Marisa here and welcome back to the channel. Today I wanted to sit
down and have just a very honest conversation with you guys because if
I'm honest the video that I had initially planned on posting this week
did not feel like something that was appropriate to share at this moment in
time given the wider context in the United States in the aftermath of the
murder of George Floyd. Now I've really gone back and forth all week as to
whether or not I should make this kind of video mainly, honestly, because as
you can see I'm not a Black person and I feel like we should really be amplifying
Black voices right now and we should be aware of how much space we are taking up.
I've also been hyper-aware of the idea of performative allyship or
activism and I very much... I'm trying to be very conscious to not make this
into something that's just performative. However, after thinking about it a lot
this week and watching a few other videos that people here in the community
have made I decided that there were a couple of reasons why I thought it was
important for me to make this video. I'm really going to try and articulate
myself clearly here because obviously, this is a very important topic. So I
don't normally script my videos that I have a whole lot
of notes here as to what I want to get across. So first of all, let's go over
some of the reasons I think it's important for us to talk about
this here on BookTube and not just talk about it on our other social media
platforms. I have been rather surprised at how been business as usual my
subscription box has been this week. Granted a lot of the people who I
watched regularly have made space in their videos this week to at least
mention the moment, share some resources with their viewers, and I think that
that's a fantastic way to do it. I don't think everybody needs to make a
standalone video on this topic. Again we're trying not to take up unnecessary
space. Another reason I decided to make this video is that there has been some
discussion this week, I mean not for the first time, but definitely this
week there has been discussion within the online book bookish community as to
whether or not we need to talk about these kind
things on BookTube or on Bookstagram. For a lot of people, these spaces are kind
of safe spaces. They are where we go to just talk about books and escape the
rest of the world and the rest of real life for a little while. And while that
is a totally fair way to use these platforms, I know that that's some
element of how I use them, I think it's really important for us to recognize as
a wider community that BookTube isn't always the most welcoming space to all
voices. I know Black creators in particular have voiced the fact that
they feel that they receive less support from the community, that their opinions
are valued less, that they are actively shut down when they try and share
opinions and if you want a good video talking about that I would highly
recommend the video that Marines put out. I will link that in my description
box as well. So with all that in mind, I have decided to go ahead and make this
video because I think it is kind of my responsibility as a creator with any
size platform, no matter how small mine actually is in the grand scheme of
things, to make it clear to you guys that I stand with the protesters. I believe
black lives matter. I believe black voices matter and I think that as a
community we can really do better. I think as a community we have a lot of
power to help normalize black voices and black narratives and I think we all need
to open ourselves up to having that uncomfortable conversation, no matter how
much we don't want to. When I first started posting on this channel back in
2013, I did not have a goal with my videos whatsoever. I was just a junior in
college who had discovered this online community of readers for the first time.
BookTube was still relatively new and I was just excited to find people with
whom I could talk about books. But the longer that I've been on this platform
and the more confidence I've developed in my own voice and my own opinions, the more
I have formed kind of a little mission statement for myself. I've never written
it down, per se, but something that I always keep in mind when I'm creating
content of any kind is that my ultimate goal is to encourage people to think
critically about the content and media that they consume. I really truly believe
that the media and narratives that we consume affect the way that we see the
world around us. I think it affects the way that we interact with each other and
it affects the way that we see ourselves and understand ourselves. So, because of
that I think it's important that we are not passive consumers of culture and
media. I think it's really important that we actively engaged with everything that
we choose to spend our time and money on. I think it's really important to think
critically about what it is that you are watching, listening to, or reading.
Something else that has become more important to me the longer I continue to
make videos is that I am putting in effort to read diversely
and share diverse authors and narratives with you guys. However, I can 125%
do better. I don't know why I was so specific. I can always, always do better.
For years now I have been saying I need to read more black and brown authors and,
guess what, I have not done that. So part of making this video is calling myself
out a little bit holding myself accountable and saying that you don't
need to just make an effort to find those authors, you need to make sure that
you're reading those books and reading those narratives. Something we are
seeing in abundance right now on the bookish internet are book lists
featuring black authors and narratives. Specifically, we are all sharing a lot of
nonfiction content or nonfiction recommendations for books about racism,
books about the black experience, and books about how to be an anti-racist by
black authors. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's fantastic that we are sharing
black authors and black narratives in this moment in particular and as
somebody who just admitted I don't read enough black authors or
narratives I think it's great that these resources exist. However, I just want to
remind us all that reading diversely and normalizing
diverse narratives... That's not a sprint, that's a marathon. It is just as, if not
more, important for us to read diversely all the time. I don't want us just
reaching for Black authors in moments like this, moments of tragedy moments, of
giant social change. I don't want us just reading minority
literature in their respective heritage months. I think
especially if we are seeking to normalize these narratives, to validate
them on the same level as we would any white author, it's so important that we
don't treat them like special reading lists.
I think it's really important that we treat them as our normal reading. I would also say
that in the way that immigrant authors don't want to be pigeonholed into only
writing about the immigrant experience, Black authors probably also don't want
people to go pick up their books looking only for black suffering or black pain
or a history of racism. Rather read black narratives because they sound
interesting to you. Read about black joy, read because the story sounds interesting, the
characters sound relatable. You know, don't read black authors to check off
some tick list, basically, is what I'm saying. The next thing I wanted to talk
about isn't BookTube specific, necessarily, but I wanted to kind of put
this out there because one of the videos that I personally am most proud of here
on my channel is the video I made a couple of years ago now talking about my
experience growing up mixed-race in the United States. If you are a newer viewer
here or just have not seen that video, I am half Chinese and half "White" and I say
"White" because my White side is Irish and Lebanese and I have been increasingly
skeptical of a whitewashing of Middle Easterners in the United States, but that
is a whole separate topic which we are not getting into. I recognize that there
is no one universal mixed-race experience. I think that your experience
with the othering that often happens to mixed-race individuals can vary
vastly based on what your mix is, what you present as, you know, your location in
the country, your greater social/ community/family context. All of those
things will play into a very different experience for mixed-race individuals.
However, I just want to say for someone like myself who is a non-black
presenting mixed-race individual and especially for mixed-race people who are
white pathing I think it's really important for us in this moment
especially to take a step back and reflect on the privilege that we have as
mixed-race individuals. I do think it's a fairly common experience for mixed-race
individuals to, at the very least experienced some kind of othering, if not
some racism towards them. I know I certainly have had my
experiences, but I also know that as a, like I said non-black presenting
mixed-race person, I have had access to so much more privilege in my life than
any Black individual than any other person of color who cannot "take that
color off" when it is convenient or based on context. And I know that might seem
completely random and out of left field but I have seen a lot of fantastic
resources on anti-racism directed at White people, I've seen a lot of
fantastic resources directed at other minority communities specifically like
the Asian community or South Asian community where there does tend to be a
level of inherent anti blackness. I've seen a lot of resources for those
communities so, as mixed-race is kind of my niche, I just wanted to throw
that out there in case any other mixed kids out there have been thinking
about this as well. The last thing I wanted to leave you guys with is kind of
a request or an action item and that is that if you are 18 years old or older
and you are registered to vote in the United States, I would really really ask
that you go out to vote in November. Now, this is not me telling you how to vote, who
to vote for. I want you guys to do your own research and make sure that you are
informed voters but I just want to underscore the importance of voting in
not just national elections, not just federal elections for offices like
president of the United States, but for local officials in your own communities.
If you are concerned about criminal charges, sentencing recommendations, or
the sentence that is ultimately handed down, those are all decisions made by
local elected officials: your local DAs, your State Attorney Generals, and your
local judges. If you are concerned about the culture at your local police
department or about their chain of command, the mayor of your city, that
elected official appoints the Chief of Police. If you are concerned about
investment in black and brown communities in your city, I think it's
really important to recognize that within the city budget, things like
schooling, things like infrastructure, open space, any pollution-related laws,
all of that is decided by the City Council who, guess what, are
elected officials. So completely putting aside national politics for a second, it's
really important to go and vote because your vote really counts when it comes to
electing those local officials who have the most direct impact in your
communities. And lastly, I would just like to underscore the fact that in states
across the country there are voter suppression laws which
disproportionately affect black and brown communities. So I personally feel
like it is my responsibility as somebody who is not affected by voter suppression
laws, who has not had my voting rights taken away from me to exercise that
right on behalf of those who can't. Okay, I will get off my soapbox now. And that
is it, that is the video that I wanted to share with you guys today. I also want to
acknowledge that, yes there might be people out there watching me who do not
agree with my stance on this and to you, I would say that I respect your
right to disagree with me but I'm also 100% okay with you unsubscribing if we
can't agree on this like very basic principle. I know we are all sharing a
lot of resources right now and it can be a little bit overwhelming, so I'm not
going to go crazy in the description box. I am, however, going to link to just a few
organizations that I have personally chosen to support or organizations that
I have been using to educate myself further. I will also link some voting
related resources in the description box where you guys can check your
registration, register if you are not already registered to vote, join
different voter initiatives, and get some more information on the candidates in
this current round of elections. So thank you guys so much for watching and I hope
you all are staying safe, staying critical, and being kind to one another.
Okay, I will see you next time. Bye!