Guide to Writing Diversity and Thoughts in Social Resistance

Introduction

What Qualifies Me?

I have been making up stories since I was five years old. My first story I remember was making up a story based on wallpaper of my bedroom to put myself to sleep. But I'm sure to some degree some of you already have stories like this, too. I also have officially been published before and paid for it.

I am highly intersectional, so I am acutely aware of being different and how those things tend to interact.

Korean adoptee, WOC, gray-aro, gray-ace, English not as mother tongue (but language of fluency), (c-PTSD which includes: major depression, anxiety, dissociation), dyscalculia, religiously ambiguous, agnostic leaning towards atheist, but practicing Jew. Oh and a Buddhist monk is one of my parents. I also have been poor.

I acknowledge my privileges and blindnesses and also where we should go.

I also have social science training in the following fields: Anthropology (Degree of study), Psychology, Sociology, Ethnic Studies. I also have taken Comparative Literature as a minor, which contains world Lit and looks at diversity, but honestly, I don't think it helped me as much as I wanted it to, but it may still come up.

I also have interest in philosophy and social change.

All of these fields will play a part in this guide and I also think this is why often many of these programs on trying to undo prejudice fail. It's because they fail to think through how many fields you need in order to undo the damage done.

I am also highly active in doing bits of social justice that are not big that you don't see.

I also participated since 2009 in the writing diversity movement, which is when it started. I've seen it all since then.

How will this be different from other guides of this sort?

Most guides tend to give canned advice about what to do or not to do and mainly focus on ONE diversity. Say, race, sexuality, and then quit thereafter. They often don't give you further reading or resources to look at. They don't ask questions of the person who is writing it to self-examine. But because I'm interested in systems, as a whole, this should enable you to see how things can and will intersect for you and how to deal with problems of things like your own fragility and dealing with people who are not like you where you don't understand them. How to learn how to listen. I will help with real resources, articles and things to read that I've personally collected from own voices over the years, both academic and non-academic, so you can work through it without burdening people with diversity.

I will be honest. The more privileged you are, the more likely you may feel upset at what I'm about to tell you. But then the super privileged are rare--it's likely you have a diversity you don't regularly think on somewhere within you. Either that you were blind to the truth, or be angry towards me, as a person, because I was honest and forthright with the information. Sometimes in order to be kind, you have to be blunt and show anger. We can't always be nice to things like prejudice in ourselves or others.

Nothing about this process will be easy at first. Like anything, it takes time. There are no quick fixes, but I think if you really care about diversity representation and persist long enough, you will be able to have the sensitivity to understand more greatly not only to write your own stories, but to interact with people in general and ask them questions without emotionally draining them too much. And personally, I think this is a life skill we all need.

The other thing is that you may want to skip to just your section of the thing you're finding rather than look at say, intersectionality, the philosophy of morality or how to do social justice. I understand that desire, but I'd highly recommend reading the parts with the self reflection exercises so you are aware when you have to ask own voices about the things I'm talking about. It will tremendously help you if you are willing to put in the work within yourself.

I think also, that hatred is as uncreative as one can get because often is groups into large categories that look exactly the same--though it feels different to the people receiving it. Love is creative because you are facing the individual in front of you.