Afro-punk Community Guidelines

Hey guys, We've been wanting to do this for a while, and we finally got around to it with the help of Moe from hardcore band Cipher, who has been working with us. Many of you showed concerns about inappropriate behaviors on the message board, in blog comments, etc. We don't want to be policing every conversation on the website, but we have to make sure that we all respect one another. There is no excuse for members who cross that line.
So here it goes: The Afro-punk Community Guidelines.

Afro-punk Community Guidelines:

We take these guidelines seriously and have established them in order to maintain a safe and growing community, faithful to the foundations and ethos of punk rock/hardcore and true to the spirit of liberation. This is one space where everyone belongs. We will work our hardest to create a community where you have confidence in your ability to express your full self without being subject to any of the negative stigmas, attacks, or discrimination you may encounter other places in society. As a community we each have a role in making that a reality.

1. We believe in free speech: However, “hate speech” is where we draw the line. Racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and any other hateful language directed against someone based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, body, disability, or national origin will not be tolerated.

2. Bullying will not be tolerated: We want to foster healthy debate and expect heated disagreements in our community. We will not accept ad hominem attacks, put downs, and cyber-bullying because someone does not share your ideas or beliefs.

3. Everybody is welcome: As punks and as people of color we know how devastating discrimination can be, that’s why the Afro-punk community will always remain open to everyone, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, body, disability, or national origin.

4. Elitism is not welcome here: Do you remember your first show? Maybe you didn’t know all the bands and didn’t own all the records. Others had a choice to either embrace you as a guest or reject you for being a poser or new-jack. Simply put, do not use your musical knowledge, length of time as a member of this community, number of posts you’ve logged, or your age as a tool to put other people down. Instead, use your knowledge and experience to share information and insights
with others, especially newcomers to the AP community.

Tags: Afro-punk, Community, Guidelines

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by AfroCuban on July 9, 2010 at 3:37pm

Yup.

Born Jamerican said:

Thank you.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Golem_3 on July 9, 2010 at 6:50pm

well, it had to happen sometime.
Though, most people (who frequent these boards) are always respectful.
I haven't seen too many incidents of the extreme negative kind.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Compound Egret on July 14, 2010 at 7:52pm

I was wondering what the answer to Stay Cold's question was going to be...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rosenda on July 15, 2010 at 2:01pm

Well I believe your intent heart is the right place to do this. We are all here cause we felt welcomed and inspired and have had fun and had great conversations and connections on AP, and also because we as Black and Brown and some other folks on here have not had this type of all welcoming acceptance and appreciation in our regular day to day lives cause we are "different" somehow. It's not cool to feel disrespected because we are all individuals with individual brains and beliefs, even WITHIN our status as being "different" among mainstream regular people. Because there are a couple folks who I met through AP who turned out to be lifelong best and very close friends of mine who have left here because of the bullying and the hateful shit, and I would not wish that on anyone here. It don't feel cool to be reigned in or given rules, ain't none of us here because we followed "rules" in our daily lives either, but in this case the intent to enforce some basic online respect, even among folks who don't always get along. The intent is good and I hope it helps.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Phactz on July 16, 2010 at 3:46pm

What cause the rule change?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by the outsider on July 22, 2010 at 4:00pm

Thanks for the clarification of the community guidelines. If this had happened, we wouldn't have lost El Machetero...still miss him :-(

The rule change was in response to all the negative and outright racist comments on from some people on this board. (eg Hidaya) It has been getting out of hand...just because you disagree with someone's opinion, it doesn't give you the right to insult them and be nasty. And, I've seen some very nasty comments and arguments...it's almost as if people feel they can get away with insulting someone online rather than in person. What happened to civility?