want to be a social media contributor?
In Cultured Company sow the seeds of peace, conflict resolution, reconciliation, collaboration, and dialog in young black and Latinx leaders in order to move from a divided past towards a shared future.
One of the things that we realized early on is how much misinformation, internalized anti-blackness, and historical whitewashing that Haitian and Dominican people are exposed to. So, as part of the "decolonizing" work we do takes place online on social media. We use social media to create a space where people can understand their history (and who is manipulating it) and how that defines their identity and worldview in the present. We also tackle the current misinformation in the media and the events shaping our Haiti and the DR. We expose people on one side of the island to the culture of people on the others so that they can humanize one another and find commonality in their triumphs and struggles. Most importantly, we create a space to build bridges where others have built barriers.
Here is what being a voluntary social media contributor entails:
Schedule your posts at least a week in advance using OnlyPult when possible. onlyPult would allow you to also see what other posts are scheduled so that there is no overlap. If you are comfortable translating into Kreyol or Spanish yourself, please feel free to do so.
Post at least once a week. We're trying to be intentional about growing our online audience but we also understand if you don't have anything new to say some days. Our hope is that with multiple contributors, we'll have at least one post every day- or even multiple.
Keep it factual, well researched, and easy to understand. There is a lot of information online that is used to push an agenda or foment tension. History books silence the contributions of people who are not white, male, and straight. There are also amazing academic research papers that are jargon snooze-fests and the average person will never read. Thus,part of the way we use social media is to make knowledge accessible, share our stories, arm people with the facts so that they feel secure in who they are and where they come from.
Be careful with the language that you use- We are all unlearning problematic beliefs that we may not even know we have. Be aware that the language you use isn't exclusive, victim-blaming, or alienating to certain groups of people (except bigots-alienate them all you want). That being said, don't be afraid to step into controversial topics when necessary as long as you can handle the consequences.
This is currently a voluntary opportunity to build an online community. If you're interested, answer the questions below to determine if you are a good fit for ICC.