Chow & Chat: Trying on the Other Shoe

Should we have a hard stop limit on things that can and can't be said at our events? What does it mean to create a safe space for people who might feel personally threatened by something that is said? How important is it to have safe space in this sort of group? What would be gaining by it? What would we be sacrificing with it? What would it look like?

Tess speaking: Recently, as I was discussing with my very smart Social Worker trained daughter about some of the topics that unexpectedly came up during an event. She challenged me to think about possibly creating a policy regarding hate speech for the group. She understood that I wouldn't want to stifle debate, but she said that having a space where all people feel secure would better allow for a real discussion with a multitude of voices being heard. My gut pushed back against the idea but I promised her that I would think about it. So I'm inviting us all to think about it and talk about it.

Since I'm crowd sourcing my thinking, I'm also going to feed the attendees to this event. There will be a variety of fresh salads and sandwiches to make sure you don't take on this topic with an empty stomach.