We are defining Community Guidelines as boundaries for how people are expected to behave in our spaces. People who are not working in alignment with these guidelines may be asked to leave.
To suggest edits to these guidelines, please email us at Info@DisabilityJusticeDreaming.org.
- This space is guided by the 10 PRINCIPLES OF DISABILITY JUSTICE.
- Access is an ongoing negotiation: Consider your access needs, including the ones that are being met at this moment, AND get curious about the access needs of the rest of the group. We work to cultivate access intimacy and trust-building with respect to Disability Justice principles and one another’s comfort.
- When talking, leave space so others can communicate too. Listening is a valid form of participation, but if you tend to listen and want to speak up, that is so welcome. Everyone deserves to be heard.
- Respect each other’s privacy. It’s OK to share concepts learned, but not people’s stories.
- Tell your own story. We can all learn from each other. Sharing creates community.
- Ask clarifying questions instead of making assumptions.
- Facilitators and moderators may remove a person from the group if they are doing harm to a person or the community. We define harm as something that injures a person’s heart, spirit, or body; offends a person’s culture; or threatens someone’s sense of safety. We consider the weight of power and privilege in the interaction when making the decision to ask someone to leave. Harm is different from the discomfort of accountability.
Let the facilitator know if someone is acting in a way that causes harm. If consented to by the person or people being harmed, we may need to initiate a transformative justice process. Transformative justice is a way to be accountable and repair harm. It helps individuals and communities change and grow. To learn more, check out this page. Sometimes, harm is so severe that we must immediately ask someone to leave without a transformative process. This decision will usually be informed by the person or people who were harmed. - Time is connected to disability and culture. We may have firm deadlines at times, which is valid, but most of the time we operate on Crip time. This means that people move at the pace that works for them. Please let us know if more time is needed, so that no one is left behind.
- Race is a social construct, and we recognize that our society operates within this construct. Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, and other People of Color experience oppression on the basis of race. We always support those of us from BIPOC communities who need affinity spaces free from white folks. We also acknowledge people’s color and the reality of colorism and color privilege within Black, Indigenous, Multiracial, and other People of Color communities. If you need space only for visible people of color, please make that request.
We are grasteful to have you in this space. We hope this is a space where you can grow with us and you are invited to help us build the worlds we dream of.