Nikki 💗 · @nikmiles24
19th Oct 2022 from TwitLonger
Statement from Black Excellence BRG
George and I (and previously James Davis) came into leadership bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We didn’t quite know what we were up against but we knew that we wanted to make some positive changes. We wanted to make our Black employees more visible - to create opportunities for growth and advancement. We still want this but now we understand that change doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve had some great times, the 2021 Black Heritage Month Block Party and the 2022 Black Heritage Month stream were particular high points for me. I’m crediting myself with reviving Always Open - doesn’t matter if it’s true (/j). We’ve also had some bad times, the planning of the 2021 and 2022 streams left a lot to be desired.
At our post mortem this year, we were all kind of tender. We were very proud of the stream that we put on, especially since George and I had never done it before, but we also saw a lot of room for improvement. I left that post-mortem feeling like the conversation was controlled by people who were barely even a part of the process which left me feeling worse. That said, no one yelled at any of us or called our stream lackluster. While we will always appreciate an ally using their voice to amplify ours, which Kdin did do during our post mortem, she was not the only one to speak up for us.
By Kdin attempting to defend herself using this anecdote, she left us feeling infantilized, ridiculed, and used. We were not gaslit and pressured to do more work. We have made the choice to pull back in a lot of ways, because we just don’t have the bandwidth to do everything we want to. We have already decided that BE will not be producing our own livestream in 2023, instead choosing to consult on and support the programming that our Direct Teams’ will be releasing in February. This doesn’t mean you won’t see anything from us, George and I have some amazing plans for 2023. We’re just pulling back from putting ourselves through a ton of stress while also performing in our normal roles.
A common refrain is that our BRGs need more support from the company and that’s still true. Sometimes it feels like RT created the BRGs, said “job well done”, and left it at that. It’s still so surprising to me that so many people here don’t even know we exist. We have had multiple talks with the Marketing and Direct teams about how they can better support us and we still have a ways to go. It’s a pain point but we are working through it and I thank them for being open and receptive to the conversations.
For 2023, our focus is going to be on our internal community. We hope to connect with the wider community as well but we want to get back to the heart of why we’re here.
This is Black Excellence’s charter
BE is focused on creating safe spaces where Black peoples can find support, advice, and opportunities to give back through cooperation between Black associates and allies to further enrich and diversify Rooster Teeth and the stories RT tells.
2023 is about creating opportunities for growth and learning. We want to connect with each other and build connections with other Black professionals outside of Rooster Teeth. We want to see Black people in rooms that we were previously not invited into. We are creating more opportunities for collaboration with the other BRGs. Things are far from perfect and they never will be but that won’t stop us from trying. Like GloRilla said, “Every day the sun won’t shine, but that’s why I love tomorrows.”
Nikki Miles & members of Black Excellence at Rooster Teeth