After receiving concerned feedback from individual members, prospective visitors and friends of community regarding the impact of the article, “Not a TO POC,” The Leaves editor and Twin Oaks Outreach Council would like to clarify that any article written by an individual expresses that person's thoughts and experiences and does not reflect overall community sentiment regarding the Black Lives Matter movement nor necessarily the experience of other BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) on the farm. We apologize for the harm that our presentation of this article without appropriate context has caused to BIPOC both within and outside of Twin Oaks.
As a community, we feel it is important that equitable space be given for our members’ voices who belong to marginalized and oppressed groups. All BIPOC currently at Twin Oaks were invited to write an unedited article on any subject relating to life at Twin Oaks for the previous issue of The Leaves and Flinch, a Hispanic immigrant, was the only one who responded with his article at the time of publishing. As the content of The Leaves is not typically posted to the community for input before being published, we failed to recognize the wider impact this type of article would cause beyond the intent to give space for BIPOC voices. This experience has spurred us to further examine ways that we can incorporate personal voices in our community’s representation to the outside world without misrepresenting our community or its individuals.
For more more perspectives about race at Twin Oaks, please see the following:
