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Not Quite the Roundup

I debated whether to write the Roundup this week because the majority of IF-blog posts that I read were about the protests. This is not a problem—the issue is that they were all written by white women.

Black women have a higher rate of infertility than white women, but our online blogging community is overwhelming white. The vast majority of the POC bloggers I read write non-IF themed blogs in my feed reader. Your mileage will vary because we each curate our own feed reader, and I can only read who I know. When it comes to IF blogs, I apparently know mostly white women who are still blogging now that so many blogs are defunct.

For almost 14 years, I’ve featured only IF bloggers in the Roundup. I read non-IF blogs, but the project has always been infertility-focused. So I haven’t featured book bloggers or general diarists or online cooks. Rather than make this post something it’s not, I think it is better to not write the Roundup this week.

Instead, I point you towards Ibram X Kendi’s guide for discussing his book, How to Be an Antiracist, which includes his reading guide for other books. There’s a lot of content in there. Dig in.

12 comments

1 S { 06.05.20 at 7:26 am }

Thank you for this.

2 a { 06.05.20 at 7:36 am }

But it is telling that, in the grand scheme of things, struggle with infertility for black women doesn’t really pop up on the radar of painful things they need to get off their chests.

Thank you for being you.

3 Jess { 06.05.20 at 7:59 am }

I love this not-quite-roundup and what it stands for. Getting the book. 💜

4 Beth { 06.05.20 at 9:04 am }

Well said.

5 Turia { 06.05.20 at 9:39 am }

Thank you for this, Mel. And a’s point above is so telling.

6 FinallyMyLinesNow { 06.05.20 at 4:11 pm }

Thank you, this is perfect and appreciated.

7 torthuil { 06.05.20 at 5:34 pm }

I disagree. One person’s voice does not somehow take away from another’s.

I am taking my readership elsewhere.

8 Mali { 06.07.20 at 1:45 am }

Thanks, Mel. I’m going to read that link.

9 loribeth { 06.07.20 at 12:43 pm }

Mel, I have no issue with your decision to pause the Roundup this week (out of how many hundred you’ve done over the years?), when we were asked to amplify black voices on social media. You’re right, there are not a lot of black ALI bloggers (who are still blogging) that we can read & learn from. There do seem to be a few on Instagram, posting about their experience there.

One of the few black women I’m aware of who is blogging about her involuntary childlessness is Yvonne John of the UK. (She has also written a book called “Dreaming of a Life Unlived,” which I have yet to read.) She wrote in her blog about her reaction to recent events this weekend:

https://findingmyplanb.wordpress.com/2020/06/07/i-cant-breathe/

Great point from A.

I’ve bought Kendi’s book (& a couple of others, and dusted off a few more from my TBR pile). Perhaps this will be the kick in the butt I need to get reading again…!

10 loribeth { 06.07.20 at 12:46 pm }

P.S. In her post, Yvonne refers to “BAME.” I had to look this up, but apparently its an acronym used in the UK that means “Black, Asian and minority ethnic.”

11 Lori Lavender Luz { 06.07.20 at 2:53 pm }

A good call. And A makes a good point about relative radar screens.

I have a microblog monday post coming in which I struggled in a tangential way. I’m a white woman. How can I talk about race? How can I not? How can I amplify Black voices yet do it well?

12 Jjiraffe { 06.07.20 at 6:42 pm }

Yep, this was the right call Mel.

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