[hackerspaces] Post: i3 Detroit: The Making of a Hackerspace

[Charlie Rysenga]

Rachel,

As a current member of i3 i must disagree on a couple points.

1) Harassement, sexism, racism.
This is a problem for every community and at i3 I think we have gotten a
lot better since the incident that Ed mentions. During my current tenure as
a officer we have had one complaint of homophobic/sexist statements made by
a member that was reported and handled by the board. The board took action
to council the offending member as to how what they were saying was hurtful
to others and we have not had a problem from him since.

2) Cost and classism.
We currently have a thriving scholarship program. We have 4
current recipients who are all very active in our community. Two are
involved in the maintenance of i3 (one is our lead
membership coordinator and the other a warden) and the other two are just
regular people who come to make things.

I may follow up later with an expansion on these after I get off work,
Charlie

On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 9:47 AM, Edward L Platt <ed at elplatt.com> wrote:

> Great question Rachel.
>
> I've discussed this both on and off list int he past. In particular:
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/pipermail/discuss/2013-January/007129.html
> https://elplatt.com/hackerspaces-and-inclusion
>
> There are a range of factors. Here is a non-exhaustive list. Note that
> I've been less involved the past couple years, so some of this may have
> improved recently.
>
> Founder effect. The founders were all middle-class white men. We were the
> ones who were tapped into the tech scene and had the resources to start the
> space. The space has become more diverse, but slowly. I should mention that
> the photo was taken in the earlier days, so the space has become a bit more
> diverse in recent years.
>
> Lack of outreach. Even if a space is doing nothing to discourage
> diversity, nothing will get better. As far as I know, i3 hasn't made any
> coordinated outreach efforts.
>
> Harassement, sexism, racism. i3 has been ahead of the game on implementing
> a harassment policy, but the one time a complaint was filed, the then-CEO
> killed it without explanation. During the years I was at i3, I always heard
> that women felt surprisingly comfortable and welcome there. In more recent
> years, I've heard complaints that women are sometimes treated like either
> someone's girlfriend or hit on. I've also heard complaints from black men
> who believe they're being treated with suspicion. After hearing details,
> it's not clear that they were, but in an environment like Detroit, if you
> can't tell if someone's racist or not it has the same chilling effect as
> being racist.
>
> Segregation. Metro Detroit is one of the most segregated areas in the
> country. While i3 is only a half-mile outside the city limit, the immediate
> area is not very racially diverse. Although still much more divese than
> some of the outer-ring suburbs.
> https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/14ce129a10af0d4a
>
> Cost and classism. Membership and materials are expensive. There is an
> attitude among some members that "if you can't afford membership, you don't
> belong here." While I was on the board I pushed very hard to pass a
> need-based "makership" which created a free membership for every 10 paid
> members, but it was never implemented. A large portion of the minorities in
> Metro Detroit fall into the poorer, working class.
>
> Transportation. This is really related to cost, but Detroit is *huge* and
> Metro Detroit is *really huge*. Public transit is abominable, and many of
> the poorer and minority residents can't afford cars. The legacy of racism
> is built into the road infrastructure as well. Many through-streets
> dead-end just before 8 Mile Rd (the city limit) and it's often illegal to
> turn onto the ones that don't.
>
> -Ed
>
> On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 9:10 AM, Rachel Uwa <info at schoolofma.org> wrote:
>
>> hi Edward,
>>
>> thanks for sharing! one thing that came to mind is that the main image
>> has not much diversity for being in Detroit. What does the community
>> attribute this to out of curiosity? Do you also do events for the public or
>> just have members pay to use the space?
>>
>> no judgement, I know diversity doesn't always come easy if ever, but it's
>> definitely worth it to
>> think about.. no doubt you all have I assume? thanks in advance for your
>> reply:)
>>
>> kind regards,
>> Rachel
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 22, 2015 at 2:45 PM, Edward L Platt <ed at elplatt.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Here's a post I wrote reflecting on being a part of i3 Detroit over the
>>> first several years. Thought y'all might find it interesting.
>>>
>>>
>>> https://readfold.com/read/elplatt/i3-detroit-the-making-of-a-hackerspace-HJbifeqd
>>>
>>> --
>>> Edward L. Platt
>>> http://elplatt.com
>>> http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
>>> http://i3detroit.com
>>> @elplatt <http://twitter.com/elplatt>
>>>
>>> This electronic mail message was sent from my desktop personal
>>> computer.  Please forgive any long-winded, overly-prosaic ramblings.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ///////////////////////////////////////
>>
>> *Founder / School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe  |   *
>> http://schoolofma.org/
>>
>> ///////////////////////////////////////
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discuss mailing list
>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Edward L. Platt
> http://elplatt.com
> http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
> http://i3detroit.com
> @elplatt <http://twitter.com/elplatt>
>
> This electronic mail message was sent from my desktop personal computer.
> Please forgive any long-winded, overly-prosaic ramblings.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
>
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