Thread by @cricketcrocker

Hi for everyone who knows me as a scientist—I have scaled back pretty intensely on my countertrolling.

Occasionally I will do it though. Part of this is pedagogy, believe it or not.

This is a thread about countertrolling as educational justice praxis.

I have a few jobs. One is to do & communicate really good science: I do that with most of my time. Probably about 50% of my waking hours total are spent on science thought/communicating it.

This is my duty to my supervisors, my colleagues, and especially my funders (taxpayers)

But a thing a lot of my white colleagues may not know is that as a visible/known Native presence in the academy, it is my duty to make more room up here for other marginalized folks to join if they want to.

I do this in a lot of ways. One is by bringing our issues to the academy (a couple years ago, @ConnectedWaters, @AnneWHilborn, @am_anatiala, and I wrote an opinion piece for a scientific journal on the #NoDAPL water protectors and why scientists should care)

Another way is by showing people (especially Native folks) that it’s okay to be an outspoken advocate for our communities, while being a scientist.

It’s important that I use the social clout that comes with a high level of formal education, to lift up, defend, and encourage.

So when a random nameless troll targets an Indigenous woman and tells her that her masters degree means nothing and that she is illiterate?

That’s a time when it is important for me to show up for my community.

We are so used to being told that we don’t matter and never could matter.

Broken treaties, stolen children, culture outlawed, treated as literal mascots and costumes—we get this message bombarded at us CONSTANTLY.

It especially harms our youth.

CW suicide

Our youth have the highest suicide rate of any demographic, and in spite of psychology literature showing that things like mascots have an impact, change is slow or nonexistent.

So I know what it seems like to you, like I just can’t keep my feelings or mouth in check

And I have become careful about when I deploy it because I am aware that it is dissonant for my white colleagues that I will scrap and swear and snarl.

But I hope you can understand, I am doing this intentionally.

I am doing it based on evidence that shows it HELPS.

I am doing this because a lot of you, my nonNative colleagues, learn about the prevalence and strength of anti-indigenous racism, when I do it.

I am doing it because you should know—how can you act against it if you are ignorant?

And I am doing it because there are precious few Native people with PhDs and other advanced degrees.

Because we do matter. Because this social clout is one of the few things I have that can make any difference.

Please understand that as much as it is our duty to do good science and communicate it well?

It is my duty to advocate for my community, and to maintain my connection, in various ways, while I live in diaspora.

Sometimes that looks like brawling on social media.

It’s not the same as brawling.

The humanity of my community is at the heart of it.

If you think that’s not professional, please also consider that it is a calculated risk I am taking.

I think you can respect that, even if you don’t understand the duty.

Thank you.