On responses to our Board candidate summaries:

Based on some of the responses we have received to this post, we would like to clarify what our intent is with the summaries and the framework through which we are evaluating the candidates.

There are many ways to fight racism in fandom and within the OTW. Increased support for volunteers, a more diverse group of volunteers and leadership, a Board and leadership that reflects the growing international makeup of modern fandom, more outreach to and support for non-Anglophone fandoms to broaden our community – we agree that these are all fantastic ways to diversify and better fandom. These are ways that we (fandom as a whole) can all work to make fandom better and more welcoming.

However, the fact is that tackling racism is an enormous project bigger than any one campaign or committee. It is a broad, overarching goal requiring many tactics and actions. We do not purport to be capable of doing all or even a majority of them.

From the beginning, our goals and focus have been intentionally narrow: based on concrete, measurable criteria which have already been promised by the OTW and which we feel are fundamental to making continuing anti-racism work possible. There are many related and overlapping issues and goals but these remain our primary targets as laid out in our first call to action:

1. An updated TOS equipped to deal with targeted harassment and policies regarding abusive content.


2. Hiring a diversity consultant.


3. Committing to a policy of transparency with increased communication from the OTW to their user base.

There are many promising candidates for this year’s board, and we feel each candidate brings unique skill sets and perspectives that could benefit the OTW. We find much that is promising in all of their platforms for a variety of reasons. Outreach to non-Anglophone fans, increased demographic and national diversity on the board, tackling AI, support for OTW volunteers, these are all important and relevant issues but outside the intentionally narrow scope of this action and movement.

Our summaries are not intended to be one-stop-shop analyses of the entirety of a candidate’s platform with regards to racism. Just as we have not endorsed any candidates (and we may not), we do not intend to disparage any candidates.

We are conscious that our campaign and the goals we are pushing for may not have made it onto the radars of the candidates in time for them to speak on it, and that there may be language barriers and differing ideas on the vocabulary around racism, anti-racism etc. between us and the candidates. That is why we would love a larger discussion with the candidates on their views with regards to our specific goals and would publish their answers in full, because we are sure they have insights and perspectives that we look forward to taking into consideration.

Sustained Action

Now that the deadline for membership to gain eligibility to vote in the upcoming OTW Board Election has passed, we are moving into our second – and arguably most important – phase of this action.

Having a Board in power motivated to enact changes is incredibly important, but as past history has shown, even the Board has limits against an organization that is resistant to change. This may make one wonder what is even the point of a new Board if the organization is going to fight them along the way, and potentially obstruct any push for change from the top. It is a fair concern, which is why our Second Call To Action focuses on two major paths. The first is voting for the new Board members, which is essential, and the second includes all of fandom, voting and non-voting members alike, creating a groundswell of public support for anti-racist change and scrutiny on the organization as a whole. This action must be continuous and sustained.

It is not enough to elect a Board, if the Board is dependent on unelected committees to function. The Board also needs a mandate from fandom in support of change. Change doesn't happen only at the ballot box, change happens on the ground, with individual people speaking up and showing that they are not OK with the status quo. It's with fans speaking to one another and agitating and demonstrating and demanding change.

This is what we did with our first Call to Action and it's what we will continue to push to do from now through the election.

We need to show the entire organization and the OTW that this is a matter of deep importance to fandom; this is not something we are going to ignore or let die down, this is not something we are going to vote about once and forget. We're willing to continue the ongoing work of pushing for change and fighting to make fandom a welcoming space where all fans can find pleasure and escape. Our first action mentioned ongoing transparency, and we're committed to pushing for that transparency and continuing to hold the organization accountable to their promises.

We'll continue writing letters and showing up to board meetings with questions about what the OTW is doing to create an anti-racist space. We also want to demonstrate support to the volunteers within the organization right now who would like to see the changes we are pushing for as well. Many have expressed wanting change but have felt disempowered, and kept silent knowing the machinery of the system will just chew them up and spit them out – we want those people to know that we see them and support them in making the OTW and fandom better for all of us.

So update your pfps, spread the action on social media, change your fic titles and pseuds, write out your thoughts on the movement and post them on all your social medias and, if we are on them, tag us so we can boost those thoughts.

We will be having more events in the coming weeks, and we will be updating our socials with these activities, but we also encourage you to sign up with our form to receive updates about these activities. We're enthusiastic about continuing to push for our goals and getting people involved, so look forward to that! It’s gonna be a lot of fun!