What, to a Black Woman, is Juneteenth?
Is the “Most Important Position” one in which we provide a service but don’t exist as human beings?
I still feel some kind of way about a request I received by DM on Juneteenth. A writer whom I don’t know very well sent an invitation to volunteer for an upcoming literary event. We share a publisher, I had a brief conversation with him at an event several years ago, but other than that, I don’t really know him. I recognized his name but had never received any direct communication from him before. He didn’t offer an introductory explanation of how I might know him, didn’t ask me how I was, how I had been doing, or anything of that nature. He offered no introductory pleasantries. Perhaps that’s the nature of DM-ing these days, but I wouldn’t have approached someone that way at all, especially if I was asking them for help. He made a request and provided a link. There was nothing in the DM that acknowledged my humanity or explained more specifically what I would be volunteering to do. Essentially, I was reduced to a commodity that could provide a service for the event. That is, if I chose to apply to volunteer.
I wasn’t sure what the volunteer position entailed, but I followed the link and continued to read. I saw the phrase “most important position,” and immediately my antennae went up. I continued to read a list of tasks and saw the phrases “set up & clean up,” and “assist venue and curator.” The text invited me to “apply” for the position. Mind you, this information arrived in my inbox on Juneteenth.
Some of my ancestors were enslaved people who worked for no compensation setting up, cleaning up, planting, sowing, cooking, serving, and more. I am a descendant of those who transitioned more recently, who cleaned up and set up for a living. As a matter of fact, I am only two generations removed from grandparents who did service work for a living. And you’d better believe they weren’t paid fairly for that work in the south that has something to say or in the north that believes everything it proclaims is important.
I was surprised that this person was so tone deaf as to send a request for free labor to an African American woman on Juneteenth (or any time, for that matter). And to ignore her humanity in the process of making that request.
In an addendum to his first DM, this man mentioned something about telling my friends about this opportunity (to work for free). African American women are always the ones expected to set up, clean up, cook, prepare a place, and take care of everyone. So, no, I’m not applying for this “most important [volunteer] position” and I’m not going to ask any of my friends to do so either.