Not Quite Ready - But Why Wait?

When I'm not accidentally sending pebbles down hillsides to fall onto LJ like great big stony avalanches, I talk with comic bloggers and feminist bloggers.

In one such conversation, someone suggested that instead of waiting my turn and doing a Women of Color Edition of the Carnival of Feminist Science Fiction & Fantasy Fans (currently on its 13th Edition) that I instead start a carnival for People of Color in SF.

So I did.

The Carnival for Fans and Creators of Color in Science Fiction and Fantasy.

I thought at first when it was suggested that we don't have enough of this kind of discussion for there to be a Carnival. Then pointed out that by having the Carnival it could well encourage people to speak up more.

I know that my feminist slanted comic blog came about because of exposure to the Feminist Carnival and the bloggers on it. And came about because of discussion on LJ as well. So while I feel like I'm going out on a limb and assuming that having one central place with links will actually be read; it doesn't feel like such a fragile limb.

There are a few safe places for discussion on lifejournal, where you don't feel as if you're talking Race Relations 101, over and over and over again; where you can talk to the choir and share. But there are people who don't have livejournals who're discussing CoC and PoC in SF. I don't get caught up on them nearly as often as I'd like. And I've found myself wondering recently if they're out there in the blogsphere alone and/or unheard or only seldom heard.

I know that I've recently been dealing with the huge realization that somewhere in my unconscious was the assumption of certain spaces in SF that were just for white characters (or characters who weren't described as visibly other). It's shaken me and made me wonder about other writers - published or not, and other fans of color and if they've ever had a discussion happen that opened their eyes. Or if they'd even know where to go to read thoughts about that.

This is an experiment, I guess, in community building specifically for SF. And if it fails, it fails. But I don't see the harm in trying. And I think there might be a lot of good that can happen.

I'm nervous and a bit terrified and feeling out of my depth and hoping I don't mess this up horribly. But it feels too important not to try. It's just hit me in the face in the past few days how much community can mean.

I've created the Carnival for Fans and Creators - comics, games, authors, what have you. It's main site is on Blogger right now. I've also created a Carnival Delicious.

I'm thinking of a publish date of June 15th (which should give me time to recover from my move and help organize things) So is there anyone who'd be interested in participating by writing or pointing out links they've stockpiled or bookmarked/delicioused? Is there anyone interested in hosting? Pimping? Is there anyone who is fantastic at using delicious and want to help there? (Cause frankly, I think I suck at it) Is there anyone who's noticed something I've missed?

PoC SF Carnival: We Exist. And We Are Not Invisible