Cover pics with Black characters have a serious lack of representation on Vocal Top Stories, plus other grouses.

Dear Anyone

Ever since I joined Vocal, I have noticed that if I use Black faces to represent my stories it almost never gets picked for a Top Story, except one, and it was a caricature of a rather pretty witch. I have monitored the situation for a long time, and I need to state my case. After thumbing through recent pages of TS', I found two stories represented, one by me which speaks about Vocal, not my personal stories, and the other a story about Carlee, a Black girl who lied about an incident, not very flattering. Did she really have to do something bad to have her face make top story.

Unless the face is that of some super famous Black person, like the one of Prince, then forget it being considered, and even then, it is a toss-up.

I remember back when I joined there were complaints that Vocal was awarding too many people of color winning entries. (I really dislike that phrase, people of color, it is not our fault that black and white are not considered colors, but neutrals, so why are Black people 'et alia' called people of color, am I supposed to reciprocate by saying ('people without color'). So now I feel like we are being deliberately ignored, or just fitting in with the stereotypical norm.

We are all people, why are we still debating this color issue. We may use the word modern, but we are still stuck in the backward ages.

Lately I have the opportunity to use my race to represent my stories. I am proud to be a Black woman. No one can take that away from me. Say what you want about AI art, but I can use it to better present what I have to say. Black cover art is not recognized or properly represented on Vocal.

If I may use a story about Denzel Washington to reiterate my point. After he had made a many great movies, no one picked him for an Oscar. Sandra Bullock, a good friend of his, raised the point about the fact that if he had been white, he would have received a few awards already. Denzel shrugged, like Atlas, smiled and answered thus:

"The Oscars are made for white people by white people. Therefore, I am not surprised that it will always go to white people".

Granted, those may not have been his exact words, but that is the gist of it. Suffice it to say, he was nominated and won in the next round of awards because the Oscar folks were shamed into awarding him one, by a white woman. I really like Sandra Bullock.

Yes, there are those among you who will be shaking your heads and saying here we go again with the complaints. This is not a complaint, it is an observation. If every story featured Black folks on the covers, and you could barely find any white folk pictures, you all would have something to say.

I want my race to be recognized, represented and be held in equal standing with the stories on Vocal. I write great stories with great black characters as my cover photographs, they are all ignored. It is not about the five dollars, that can't cook my dinner, no matter how many they give me or refuse to give me.

I honestly think that people subconsciously avoid black pictures because of this, I know that I did at first.

Remember that 20th century children’s nursery rhyme:

“ if you’re black, stay back;

if you’re brown, stick around;

if you’re yellow, you’re mellow;

if you’re white, you’re all right.”

Gosh damned right I am mad about this whole situation. There are great stories being ignored and not so great ones awarded in favor of who writes the story, and not the story itself. Yes, some not so great stories receive TS because of who writes them, while great stories (not just black related) are left in the dust without so much as a by your leave. I know that participation in things Vocal related play a great part in earning credits.

Publish this or not publish this. I have a right to my opinion, and I have a right to what I will or will not do on Vocal. I will not be bullied into doing something just because everyone else is doing it. I signed up to write stories and be treated fairly. The process has changed, I understand, things and times change.

The same group of people on Vocal keep patting each other on the backs and congratulating each other, around and around in a circle they go. Everybody else can take a hike. Do you really expect the ignored to invest money in more schemes in which they are not included? What a daunting task this whole melee of voices and noises must be.

Yes, I did get some Top Stories and such, which I greatly appreciate, I still have the option to observe and opine.

I completely understand if no one wants to add their voice to my One Woman Rant. Totally cool.

Signed

Black Woman for Justice.

...................................................................

Here is one of my awesome creations....Just saying!