A Note from Our Founder

Dear Community,

I write to you to condemn the violence against Black people and Black communities happening in our nation. As a Black, queer woman I live at the intersection of hope and rage. I’m a dreamer who, if need be, will not hesitate to correct you. But hope is hard and rage is easier when again and again my people are killed while begging for their lives.

When Trayvon Martin was killed, I was in my first year of college. I had a paper due the next day. I remember both of those details so clearly because that’s how it’s always been for me. My years in college were full of Black murders by police who were never even indicted. I had to mourn while also keeping up appearances. Unfortunately, not much has changed in the five years since I graduated. If I take a day off every time a Black person is brutalized or killed, I’d barely get any work done. And so, I’m forever in mourning.

For myself, and for so many working with me at People of Color in Publishing, the protests and riots happening around the nation aren’t just a moment, a news item waiting to be ousted by the next. They’re our lives. We know first-hand how hard it is to witness brutality against your own by the very people you’re supposed to be able to call on in an emergency. We know how hard it is to be expected to continue on as if nothing has happened, to educate your white counterparts on racism, and to find time for self-care amongst all that. To be a Black person in book publishing—to be a Black artist/writer in this industry—is to devote your life to anti-racist work. When things like this happen, it can feel like you’re not doing enough, it can feel like you need to do more when you’re burnt out as is.

I founded People of Color in Publishing—a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting, empowering, and uplifting racially and ethnically marginalized members of the book publishing industry—to be a network, a safe space, and a resource. We work to recruit and retain people of color into the book publishing industry. That work necessitates honest, meaningful, and impactful conversations about who has power, who doesn’t, and why; about access and inclusion; about ensuring that our industry—one that almost certainly has white supremacist roots—doesn’t look the same moving forward. It’s not about diversity as a matter of optics—it’s about changing racist systems to forge a better, more equitable present and future.

People of Color in Publishing supports Black people, we support Black publishing professionals, we support pro-Black organizations, and those working to dismantle white supremacy. We ask that our white publishing colleagues and institutions do the same—not just today, not just this week or month, but in a sustained, actionable way in order to affect long-lasting change.

For those of you who are seeking guidance and resources during this difficult time: we are here, our DMs are open, and our email is readily available. I know we’re in the midst of a pandemic, and that is exactly why this is the best time to plan for the future. It is long past time for us, as an industry (& a nation), to change.

While we always welcome donations to People of Color in Publishing, we encourage you to first donate to the organizations on the frontlines that are most in need of our help:

BAILOUT FUNDS

MORE PLACES TO DONATE

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#donate

Black Lives Matter.

Sincerely,

Patrice Caldwell

Founder & President, People of Color in Publishing

Patrice Caldwell