Substack Remains a Nazi Bar, But At Least This Newsletter Post Makes It Easier to Inform You
I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, and sick and tired of repeating how many folx are complicit in contributing to the systems rigged against those of us more likely to be sick and tired of being sick and tired of oppression! 🙃
As a fat brown queer disabled immigrant woman and trauma survivor, who was a mental health therapist for decades, who remains a trauma-informed equity practitioner, educator, etc., nothing could convince me to stay on a newsletter platform after learning that my writing work would profit Nazis.
Unfortunately, having spent over a year informing writers about Substack's Nazi connections, I have been disappointed by how some use words. Maybe my expectations are based on the fact that I always wanted to be an equity practitioner more than I ever wanted to be a writer, but the last few years have taught me that some of you only want to be known for equity, progress, social justice, authenticity, fellowship, community, or whatever you are branding yourself as this week/month/year/decade/century/millenium, etc., without doing the sacrifice, labour, etc., required to actually earn that reputation.
If you bristled at my description in the above paragraph, I invite you to use this as an opportunity to do better, but if you have no interest in doing better, please consider this my humble request to release me from your hold.
I need to devote my few spoons to those who are self-aware enough to not hurt me with their lack of introspection. Despite how often memory lapses remind me that I am 40, I doubt I will ever forget this photo that I downloaded to add #AltText to on Bluesky, as I could never justify using a Nazi-profiting platform for my work with the ethical lens that I pride myself on:
The fact that Bari Weiss' Free Press newspaper was hosted on Substack, who the late Palestinian poet, Dr. Refaat Al-Areer, deemed responsible for the future death of himself and his loved ones, was always enough of a reason for me to stay the fuck away from Substack!"
Unfortunately, at least a year of attempted call-ins by emails, Zoom chats, DMs via Facebook, Instagram, etc., reinforces what felt like centuries of equity work taught me about the vast majority of white folx adamant on using the latest buzzword to signify "ally" so we fed them the cookie they thought they had earned from buying some anti-racist books many of them never even read, i.e., that many folx have developed their writing craft without comparable investment in developing the ethical lens they claim to hold when they take poetic license to author heroic stories of fellowship, community, etc., in any genre of their choice, implicitly cosplaying as nonfiction..."
Maybe it is because I was so disturbed by Israel's killing of that Palestinian poet during my 2023 facilitation of BIPOC Disability Justice (Un)Learning Journeys that it informed my Navigating Grief in BIPOC Solidarity workshop series in 2024, (which resulted in that slide with his, "If I Must Die" poem), Substack never appealed to me, but if you made different choices, I have compiled all the resources from the one-on-one call-in attempts on which I wasted my few spoons over the last year (that depleted the fuck out of me).
For context, I am based on the side of the Turtle Island "border" that Meta does not allow to post news links, so one of the benefits of a newsletter hosted on my website is being able to post my writing without getting an error message when attempting a Facebook post or Instagram story, (which is why I was so drawn to Bluesky to cope with my Trump 2.0 anxiety since January 2025).
To be clear, the reason I am writing this is that among some writers I once held in higher regard, there have also been a welcome handful of BIPOC essayists and poets who prove open to doing better the way Maya Angelou encouraged, once we know better. If you, like them, are also open to psychoeducation regarding the Nazi bar that Substack remains, what follows is my attempt at providing relevant context to support you in this crucial journey I hope you take:"
If not already familiar with the Handbasket, it is Marisa Kabas' newsletter, which began on Substack, back in June 2022. By November 28, 2023, a Substack publisher, Jonathan M. Katz wrote about the Nazi problem on Substack, as published by The Atlantic, which resulted in this Substackers Against Nazis: A collective letter to Substack leadership Handbasket post that ended with this pressing question from Substackers against Nazis:
Your unwillingness to play by your own rules on this issue has already led to the announced departures of several prominent Substackers, including Rusty Foster and Helena Fitzgerald. They follow previous exoduses of writers, including Substack Pro recipient Grace Lavery and Jude Ellison S. Doyle, who left with similar concerns.
As journalist Casey Newton told his more than 166,000 Substack subscribers after Katz’s piece came out: “The correct number of newsletters using Nazi symbols that you host and profit from on your platform is zero.”
We, your publishers, want to hear from you on the official Substack newsletter. Is platforming Nazis part of your vision of success? Let us know—from there we can each decide if this is still where we want to be.
By January 9, 2024, Kabas announced plans to find a new home for her newsletter, and her 1st post on beehiiv was published 8 days later.
By November 19, 2024, Anil Dash wrote this Don't Call It a Substack post on his blog, which included links for exporting one's subscribers from Substack as well as ethical alternatives like Ghost, beehiiv, and Buttondown.
By December 18, 2024, Kabas reported on Substack again regarding their partnership with The Free Press, Bari Weiss' reactionary right-wing publication, which ended with these ever relevant words I wish more writers would heed:
As we wrote in the Substackers Against Nazis letter, “there’s a difference between a hands-off approach and putting your thumb on the scale.” And by championing Bari Weiss and her worldview, Substack is once again putting its thumb on the scale.
There is no such thing as a perfect place on the internet. But it’s possible to avoid the ones that aren’t even pretending to try to be better. The best time to leave Substack was a long time ago. The second best time is now.
By January 13, 2025, Imani Gandy made this video about the Nazi bar that Substack remains, and by March 14, 2025, Maia Kobabe made a Substack: home of Nazis, Covid misinformation, anti-vaccine propaganda & transphobia post, in which Gandy is quoted in an illustration, which states, "Substack is creating a walled garden that you have to share with white supremacists."
Everyone has a stake in defending humanity and dignity and Palestinian liberation is tied to disability justice."
If reading this post brings up grief about how many remain on a platform that profits Nazis, I encourage you to explore my BIPOC Poetry Gems page for a collection of words to which I return, when betrayed, harmed, etc.
Especially if you read my January Disability Justice Work Must Include Holding Space for Grief newsletter post, or my February Trying to Lean Into Disabled Joy, Alongside Grief Galore newsletter post, you know I often reference grief in Disability Justice work, but I recognize that I was not always skilled at holding space for the grief of myself and my loved ones, so if you can relate, I invite you to explore how you might operate differently if you felt more comfortable to express grief, as Michéle Pearson Clarke encouraged in her 2018 TED Talk:
If new to considering what a grief ritual could look like as part of your Disability Justice work, for me, writing often offers an opportunity to process strong feelings on the page, so some potential prompts for journaling might include:
- What might you need to give yourself permission to grieve regarding genocides, fascism, disabilities, aging, barriers to accessing care, etc.?
- How will you hold space for your grief?
- Whose grief will you hold space for?
If able to contribute to my survival following my ex's financial abuse of at least $183,364, which further disabled me, alongside white supremacist workplace trauma, e-transfers within "Canada" may be sent to krystaljagoo@gmail.com and funds may be sent via PayPal below, so please consider supporting me! 🙏🏾
BTW, on the off chance that you are looking for a gifted equity practitioner and educator for virtual services like writing, facilitation, and consulting, you are welcome to peruse my CV below, and explore paid services here.
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