fat bipoc folks to support
Tl;dr: scroll down to the set of bullet points for ways to support fat Black and BIPOC folks.
By now, many people who are already active within fat liberation and body justice spaces have probably heard about how Marquisele/Mikey Mercedes went public about the racism, entitlement, and (in Mikey’s very accurate words) “disrespect and paternalism towards fat people and the stakes of fat activism” of Lindo Bacon (they/them) in this post on her Patreon.
Since then, the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) has likewise revealed the same exact patterns of disrespectful engagement between their leadership team (and particularly Veronica Garnett, ASDAH’s Vision & Strategy Leader) and Lindo in this post on their website.
Since then, fat activism spaces on social media and email listservs have been overflowing with conversation about this turn of events, and several more people have taken to sharing their own harmful interactions with Lindo. Thankfully, most of the posts that have shown up for me have been in unequivocally in support of the fat folks who have shared their stories and the countless fat BIPOC folks who are most harmed by Lindo’s patterns of behaviors regardless of whether or not they’ve directly interacted with Lindo.
(A few examples: https://twitter.com/unplugcollectiv/status/1502786797767643136?s=21&fbclid=IwAR2FGeJVInDu7OrjAzxotG9sXOsjc2FtAOn_gF3Xrnh7lMUk3YW0GvnDoKk
https://twitter.com/rachel_e_fox/status/1502778542282534915?s=21&fbclid=IwAR1wXB0SyErTeiLv2z1cmeETjZd0ft8JLagcETkfMDMJi5k0nbvTvOVbTZg
https://twitter.com/marquisele/status/1502028682566713352?s=21&fbclid=IwAR3S_hTIP3CpbMiwM6XDf110Z52bt0ENbFRQ2R6bpbfMi_VMMZT620L6vo0
https://twitter.com/samdylanfinch/status/1502782789157937154?s=21&fbclid=IwAR3ihMdSBpFBEKSHZGGqbYrdM05cP9aZKzRBWOmJzM2SYFmxB2KnnF0mpDs
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbBVUw5BTm5/?utm_medium=copy_link&fbclid=IwAR2FGeJVInDu7OrjAzxotG9sXOsjc2FtAOn_gF3Xrnh7lMUk3YW0GvnDoKk)
Unfortunately, there have also been all too many folks bemoaning “cancel culture.” I have also seen white folks of all sizes centering their voices in this conversation and espousing other racist and sizeist dog whistles that operate to invalidate the lived experiences of fat BIPOC folks and uphold the tenets of white supremacy.
As far as Christine’s and my perspective, we have a short and simple statement: we are unequivocally and unapologetically supportive of Mikey and the many Black and BIPOC fat folks who are harmed by behaviors such as those that Lindo has repeatedly engaged in.
Rather than saying anything more about it, we are instead offering this list of fat Black and BIPOC folks for you to follow and ways that you can support their work:
Become a Patreon supporter of Marquisele Mercedes: https://www.patreon.com/marquisele
Become a Patreon support of Ilya Parker of Decolonizing Fitness
Follow Da'Shaun L. Harrison on Instagram, read their book Belly of the Beast, and check out additional ways to support their work on their LinkTree
Follow Sydd Skyy on Instagram and buy things from their Etsy shop
Follow Caleb Luna on Instagram, check out their LinkTree, and support their Patreon
Follow Derrick Reyes (personal IG, IG of Queerly Health) and support the work they do through Queerly Health, https://www.queerly.health/.
Follow Vanessa Rochelle Lewis and support their GoFundMe
Register for the 2022 ASDAH Conference, with particular attention given towards listening to the Black and BIPOC presenters and elevating their work
Follow Saucye West and support her work directly
Follow Patrilie on their Instagram and support the work she does with Embody Lib
This is no time to be centering the voices of white folks, thin folks, or white thin folks within fat justice and fat liberation spaces. Instead, let us honor and elevate the many opportunities that exist for us to listen to, learn from, and support the work of fat Black and BIPOC folks.
