Jun 2, 2017

Calling in Call-Out Culture

For calling-in to work, it must be rooted deeply in kind speech
By Gabe FromMaui / filmsforaction.org
Calling in Call-Out Culture

Asam Ahmad, in their article "What Makes Call-Out Culture So Toxic" does a great job of identifying just that. 

What makes call-out culture so toxic is not necessarily its frequency so much as the nature and performance of the call-out itself.

Calling-in is identified as an alternative to calling-out. This is a great idea.  However, if "calling-in" is to succeed as an antidote to the divisiveness caused by the totalitariane brandishing of terminology, it must be more than just more terminology -- it must be rooted deeply in kindness, caring and a desire to bring people together, to call them into a collective.  As Tran puts it, in their original post on calling-in, calling-in is about "calling in people who we want to be in community with."

In Ahmad's article, calling-in is described as "speaking privately with an individual who has done some wrong..." which suggests that calling-in is simply calling-out, done privately. 

This definition doesn't put enough distance between the two phrases and fails especially in that it encourages people calling-in to assume a position of moral righteousness. Whether done publicly, or privately, this is a violent act -- an act of condemnation -- and it contains the same seeds of totalitarian righteousness present in the calling-out practice.

When we call someone in, we are supporting them to be an appreciated part of the group -- "Hey, we'd love for you to be part of our group. You may not realize it, but some of the things you've said may have been hurtful or marginalizing to people we care about and people we think you care about as well."

When we call someone in, we are calling them to join our mission to support kinder speech.

Of course then, it would serve our purpose to speak and type it kindly. 

Activism   Culture
Rate this article 
Activism
Anti-Racism is a Big Movement: Here are Some of the Conversations & Ideas That You May Have Missed
Articles by Tim Hjersted, Co-Founder of Films For Action
Trending Videos
Louis Theroux: The Settlers (2025)
62 min - Fourteen years after his first visit and 2011 film The Ultra Zionists, Louis Theroux meets some of the growing community of religious-nationalist Israelis who have settled in the West Bank.Louis...
Chicago 10 (2008)
98 min - Protesters and activists in the face of an oppressive and armed government speak out and take a stand, and after being denied permits for demonstrations they repeatedly clashed with the Chicago...
Red Path
7 min - "Red Path premiered at the Unmentionables Film Festival in New York, a festival dedicated to breaking taboos and this first year the taboo was menstruation. I truly believe
Hey Corporate America, THIS Is What Happens When You Piss Off a Rapper And His Friends
6 min - Food Fight is the story of a kid who lives in a world where the food at the local corner store is killing his neighborhood -- literally. SHARE IT? Accompanying FREE CURRICULUM, LYRICS & SONG...
Jordan Klepper Charts Trump's Long History with Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell
13 min - With MAGA and Democrats demanding answers about the Epstein files and Trump denying their existence, Jordan Klepper charts the presidents well-documented history with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine...
Planet Local Voices Series: 33 Voices United by a Vision of Ecological Economies, Healthy Communities and Local Food Systems
445 min - Planet Local Voices is video and podcast series featuring cutting-edge thinkers, writers, movement-builders and activists from across the world, united by a planet local vision of ecological...
The History Our Culture Doesn't Teach
The Regenerative Design (R)Evolution - Daniel Christian Wahl
Subscribe for $5/mo to Watch over 50 Patron-Exclusive Films
Subscribe $5/mo View All Patron Films

 

Your support keeps us ad-free and financially independent

Our 10,000+ video & article library is 99% free, ad-free, and entirely community-funded thanks to our patron subscribers!


Want to double your impact? You can subscribe for $10/mo or more as an extra show of support.