Listen now | When your words get flagged, your voice is already under fire. Vanessa shares the chilling moment when a seemingly harmless slide in Canva was flagged as “political”—and how that sparked a deeper reflection on digital gatekeeping, algorithmic bias, and the erasure of marginalized voices in art and history.
Their Eyes Were Watching God was my introduction to Zora in grad school, very late in my education. Of course I learned nothing of her when I was in school... I'm closer to Alice Walker's age. And thank goodness for Alice Walker, who "rediscovered" Zora Neale Hurston. Alice's work (The Color Purple was just the start) was accessible and allowed my first clear understanding of African American history in the 20th century.
Oh, Vanessa. We've also seen it with the Holocost deniers. None of us are safe. We're women. If you are a woman with a voice now is the only chance we have to use it. We should all be using those voices.
That's a chilling post. As someone who also designs on Canva, even more so. Thank you for sounding the alarm on another piece of the insanity, and for reminding us of the the revered authors who did this work before us and managed to persevere.
Great post! It reminds me of a book a I recently read called Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin.
I’ll have to check that one out by Ruha Benjamin
Excellent post.
Oh, and another legend we need to remember is Zora Neale Hurston.
Zora was done so wrong. My essay
was about her and how we help kill the messengers.
https://open.substack.com/pub/vanessariley/p/ride-or-die-or-get-out-the-way?r=3jz1c&utm_medium=ios
Their Eyes Were Watching God was my introduction to Zora in grad school, very late in my education. Of course I learned nothing of her when I was in school... I'm closer to Alice Walker's age. And thank goodness for Alice Walker, who "rediscovered" Zora Neale Hurston. Alice's work (The Color Purple was just the start) was accessible and allowed my first clear understanding of African American history in the 20th century.
Oh, Vanessa. We've also seen it with the Holocost deniers. None of us are safe. We're women. If you are a woman with a voice now is the only chance we have to use it. We should all be using those voices.
Yes!!!! Now!!!!
That's a chilling post. As someone who also designs on Canva, even more so. Thank you for sounding the alarm on another piece of the insanity, and for reminding us of the the revered authors who did this work before us and managed to persevere.