if you have people in your communities who make you feel unsafe or like you cannot criticize them, especially if they have risen to positions of assumed authority and leadership, question that.
people don’t make you feel uncomfortable for no reason. talk to other people in your community about them. you will likely find other people who feel the same. you may find the reason why you feel that way.
question people’s actions in an individual context. be critical of anyone who values ideological purity over kindness. be critical of how people use their identities to assume intellectual authority or silence others.
be critical of people who wield academia and intellectualism to gain power within our spaces. just because someone speaks eloquently or uses big words does not mean what they say is right.
abusers exist in every space. they exist within safe spaces. they exist within radical spaces. they exist within friend groups. they assume the language and behaviour of any group they are in and use it to their advantage. they will make you feel ignorant, they will make you feel like youre being oppressive if you question unsafe behaviour, they will make you feel “less radical” or less deserving of space. they will make you feel like your feelings and opinions and autonomy is unimportant.
be wary of this. please. i have started seeing this too much within trans/social justice/radical spaces.
if someone is making you feel uncomfortable, no matter who they are, even if you feel like you “dont have a good enough reason” to feel that way - talk to someone about it.
