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Inclusivity at Bike!Bike!
[ ¡Versión española es inminente! ]
In this pop-up workshop, we discussed some of the challenges of transnational bike organizing in the context of Bike!Bike! 2015. The pop-up was framed as an opportunity to openly discuss strategies that we can utilize moving forward, and it pointed toward the significance of language, citizenship, and race and ethnicity in coordinating transnational projects. The suggestions are listed in key points below. The result of the workshop was the formation of a working group which will make recommendations for future Bike!Bike! hosts and facilitate the creation of meaningful resources and relationships to move this work forward.
BIKE!BIKE!
- Incorporate language barriers into our organizations’ and B!B!’s safer spaces policy
- Encourage all users of the Think Tank to make an effort to post in both English and Spanish (and other languages if possible)
- Make it possible for Mexicans to keep going to BB
- Invite participation from other countries that have bike organizations such as Brazil and Colombia
- Incorporate activist and social justice trainings into our conferences to help folks gain understandings of colonialism, gender violence, race/racism/white supremacy/white allyship
- Use the Thinktank to create and then distribute a list of resources/skills that Mexican shops need (instruction? Tools? Etc.)
- Start a scholarship fund for flights, exchanges, etc.
BIKE!BIKE! Participants - For anglo participants: Make an effort to learn some basic Spanish (and/or another language) in advance of attendance so that English does not become the default language of communication for all participants - Register as early as you can! - Submit your workshop ideas by an early deadline so that your abstracts can be translated and the hosts can ensure that a translator is available during your workshop - For anglo participants: Go to workshops hosted by Spanish-speakers. Permit yourself the experience of now knowing what is being said, of needing to listen intently. Discomfort can be a learning tool if we can resist the urge to control it. - Consider sending folks from your organizations (staff, volunteers, etc) who are bi- or multi-lingual, while also remembering that the participation of unilingual folks continues to be welcome.
FUTURE HOSTS: - Make translation a default for ALL workshops. This could be easily coordinated if we had a pool of translators identified in advance who were asked to attend certain workshops, or to volunteer to translate during certain time frames. This could be organized by future BB hosts and/or workshop coordinators, and a translation working group. - Make passport/VISA information available far in advance, and help to facilitate Mexicans’ access to information and required documents. This may include creating an information package, and procuring letters of invitation from city, state/provincial councillors and general higher-ups amongst other things. - Make all information – including posters, registration information, Facebook posts, etc in at least English and Spanish (and more languages as relevant and possible…French? Portugese?) - Set early registration and workshop submission deadlines and request that participants honour them. This way, you will have time to ensure translation of abstracts and the availability of translators for workshops. - Consider soliciting folks for relevant themes in advance, and requesting workshops that honour them. At the same time, part of the beauty of BB is that is it spontaneous, random, and fresh, so leaving room for that is important as well. - Solicit biographical posters from participants that include their pictures, names, shops, and special resources/skills. Post them up at BB so people can get to know one another better and know who to talk to about particular things, even if they have difficulty communicating and meeting one another due to language barriers. - Reach out to people in your community that speak multiple languages early to get help with planning and organizing.
PROGRAMMING: - Develop a functional exchange program so that folks from Mexico can come to shops in the US and Canada. This could be piloted by individual shops, or a small group of people from shops in the same country working together.
TRANSLATION: - Build an online network of translators that folks can go to when they need documents translated, that can help Godwin translate for the website - Create translation guidelines for workshops. Include them in the BB guide, and have facilitators mention them at the beginning of workshops so that participants can better understand how to help facilitate translation, and have their