harassers defending harassers
Apparently, F.J. Bergmann is now defending Jim Frenkel (on jimhines' blog)
I am finally coming out to say that F.J. Bergmann harassed me during Wiscon36 for being a Russian and an immigrant. I have not spoken about this for the same reasons people are not speaking about harassment. I am speaking about it now because it is time. Time to expose harassers. Time to say that our spaces should make an effort to be safe from all kinds of harassment, not just sexual harassment.
I am going to be brief and to the point. This still hurts.
It happened during the launch of the Moment of Change anthology, an anthology of intersectional feminist poetry featuring work of Ursula K. Le Guin, Amal El-Mohtar, Nisi Shawl, JT Stewart, Sofia Samatar, Sonya Taaffe, and other brilliant established and upcoming feminist poets. F.J.Bergmann came in with a group of people. Background to this is that Bergmann hates me because of my opposition to this racist poem ( as described by Amal) and other perceived offenses.
After some poems were read, Bergmann got up. She then proceeded to read, while looking at me, from her laptop, a poem. It was about a Russian mail-order bride who tricks her poor American husband; she is secretly a Baba Yaga, also a Ph.D. Birds were mentioned. The mail-order Baba Yaga's Russian accent was mocked.
The delivery was very clearly aimed at me. It was about me as a deceitful Baba Yaga with a Russian accent who has a PhD and loves birds. (I do not know if she wrote it specifically with me in mind or not; I know only what I heard).
Saira Ali (sairaali), who was in the audience, summarizes her reaction thusly: " The way I heard that poem it was both anti-immigrant and anti-rose-in-particular *and* anti-semitic." (on twitter, see Storify).
The storify of my tweets on this matter is here, with additional tweets from allies and clarifying comments from editor and writer Alex Dally MacFarlane.
My witnesses are Sofia Samatar, Saira Ali, Lisa M. Bradley, Shira Lipkin, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Gwynne Garfinkle, Emily Jiang, and a whole room full of other people. Witnesses, if you are comfortable, I will appreciate comments here corroborating my story and/or adding/correcting it.
I am finally coming out to say that F.J. Bergmann harassed me during Wiscon36 for being a Russian and an immigrant. I have not spoken about this for the same reasons people are not speaking about harassment. I am speaking about it now because it is time. Time to expose harassers. Time to say that our spaces should make an effort to be safe from all kinds of harassment, not just sexual harassment.
I am going to be brief and to the point. This still hurts.
It happened during the launch of the Moment of Change anthology, an anthology of intersectional feminist poetry featuring work of Ursula K. Le Guin, Amal El-Mohtar, Nisi Shawl, JT Stewart, Sofia Samatar, Sonya Taaffe, and other brilliant established and upcoming feminist poets. F.J.Bergmann came in with a group of people. Background to this is that Bergmann hates me because of my opposition to this racist poem ( as described by Amal) and other perceived offenses.
After some poems were read, Bergmann got up. She then proceeded to read, while looking at me, from her laptop, a poem. It was about a Russian mail-order bride who tricks her poor American husband; she is secretly a Baba Yaga, also a Ph.D. Birds were mentioned. The mail-order Baba Yaga's Russian accent was mocked.
The delivery was very clearly aimed at me. It was about me as a deceitful Baba Yaga with a Russian accent who has a PhD and loves birds. (I do not know if she wrote it specifically with me in mind or not; I know only what I heard).
Saira Ali (sairaali), who was in the audience, summarizes her reaction thusly: " The way I heard that poem it was both anti-immigrant and anti-rose-in-particular *and* anti-semitic." (on twitter, see Storify).
The storify of my tweets on this matter is here, with additional tweets from allies and clarifying comments from editor and writer Alex Dally MacFarlane.
My witnesses are Sofia Samatar, Saira Ali, Lisa M. Bradley, Shira Lipkin, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Gwynne Garfinkle, Emily Jiang, and a whole room full of other people. Witnesses, if you are comfortable, I will appreciate comments here corroborating my story and/or adding/correcting it.