BMA Code of Conduct
Welcome to Black Microbiologists Association (BMA). We appreciate your commitment to helping us build a vibrant community and celebration of Black Microbiologists! This is a living document and is subject to changes and updates as time moves forward. Any changes or updates made to the code of conduct will be announced in the slack workspace.
Our organization consists of people across the field of microbiology, at different professional levels and with different identities. It is our intention to maintain a high-quality, enriching community. In order to accomplish this in a short time-frame and with a group of folks who don’t know each other, it is essential that we have a set of ethics and principles for conduct. We also must have an organizational structure that is conducive to effective planning.
Purpose
Our mission is to:
- Highlight the presence and accomplishments of Black microbiologists from around the globe.
- Connect Black microbiologists with one another and foster a sense of community among them.
- Provide a forum for the discussion of racial disparities in microbiology and its subfields.
- Amplify Black scientists in all fields, acknowledge the contributions to their disciplines and support the collective work of pursuing equity in academe, industry, government, and beyond.
What does this Code of Conduct Cover?
The code of conduct covers all comments and behaviors both inside and outside our Slack channel, newsletter, videos, published works, and events. Members are also expected to follow this code of conduct in all of their interactions with the overall #BlackInMicro community on social media such as Slack, LinkedIn, Blueksy, Twitter/X, Facebook, and Instagram.
Summary of Key Points
We are dedicated to providing a welcoming and supportive environment, regardless of background or identity. By participating in this community, participants agree to abide by the Code of Conduct and accept the procedures by which any Code of Conduct incidents are resolved.
- Use welcoming and inclusive language
- Be respectful of different viewpoints and experiences
- Don’t make assumptions about the identities/cultures/nationalities of others
- Gracefully accept constructive criticism
- Acknowledge and respect the creative and energetic investments of others
- Focus on what is best for the community
- Help promote consistency in media coverage
- Show courtesy and respect towards other community members
If you believe someone is violating the Code of Conduct, we ask that you report it to the by emailing [email protected] after submitting this form. That will notify the Lead Organizers, who will take appropriate action to address the situation. Conflict should be handled in a professional manner, with good faith efforts by all parties involved. It is therefore NOT appropriate to assume and/or accuse others of mal-intent publicly on platforms such as Twitter or other social media.
Reported violations will be promptly addressed with the person in question upon receipt of the form. First offenses will be addressed informally in writing with the exception of extreme violations in which the offender will be removed immediately. Repeat (3+) offenders will be removed from the group.
Details
- Respect Confidentiality. Honor the experiences and stories of our working group members. Be mindful of personal anecdotes you do not have explicit permission to share (being aware that others may feel comfortable sharing their story in a certain context / space / time but that does that mean it is yours to claim/redistribute)
- Try to use “I” statements i.e., not speaking for others or for one’s whole identity group
- Acknowledge and respect the intersectionality of our respective identities
- Use inclusive language:
- Race and ethnicity
- Do not assume anyone’s race (physical/behavioural characteristics, culture), ethnicity (language, culture, ancestry), or nationality (country/ies they are from)
- Being mindful that race (i) is a social construct, created to categorize and oppress AND (ii) has real repercussions despite being a construct / is biologically unfounded
- Avoid any stereotypes/biases (“positive” or negative; conscious or unconscious), generalizations about any group
- Capitalizing “Black” and “Indigenous”
- Gender and sexuality
- 2SLGBTQIA+ is an umbrella acronym used to refer to the queer community as a whole: two-spirit (Indigenous only, listed first to recognize Indigenous folks as the first peoples of the land we occupy), lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other identities
- Do not assume anyone’s gender/sexual orientation
- Being mindful that gender and sexuality fall on a continuum and are not binaries (instead of using “boys and girls / ladies and gentlemen” “you guys” to refer to groups of people, use “all / you all” “folks” “people”)
- Being mindful that the English language is highly gendered
- Do not assume anyone’s pronouns (ask if unknown, normalize introduction of your own “My name is ___, my pronouns are ___”); use “them” or refer to the individual by name if pronouns are unknown
- Gender identities, like any other identities, are not “preferred” but simply are
- Disability
- Being mindful that disability/ies are diverse and can be invisible / not apparent
- Use “person/s with disabilities” “person who uses a wheelchair” instead of “disabled” “wheelchair-bound”
- Avoid ableist language such as “lame” “crazy” “dumb”
- Other intersecting identities
- Being mindful that having multiple marginalized identities compounds effects of oppression
- Race and ethnicity
Ensure event descriptions include land acknowledgement, speaker pronouns
Standards for Social Media Interactions
Don’t make posts that presume to represent the entire BlackInMicro organization.
Posts should follow communication guidelines in respect to race, gender, disability etc.
All requests for official comments/statements/interviews/highlights from official organizations, journalists, or other media platforms must be forwarded to the public relations team.
Please notify the public relations team of requests for coverage by a working group individual’s home institution so that we can follow up/promote the coverage.
Credit original creators
Being conscious of copyright; attribute original image/idea/scholarship
If the content creator is on social media, tag them
Hashtagging
Capitalize each word to allow for screen reader accessibility (e.g., #BlackInMicro instead of #blackinmicro)
Hashtags are not required for all social media platforms, but can use to direct attention (e.g. people can click on #BlackInMicro to see other posts tagged #BlackInMicro)
To gain most traction, use hashtags that are general (e.g., #science #microbiology #scicomm) but use at least 10 that are specific to cause (e.g., #BlackInMicro #BlackInMicroWeek)
Provide alternative text descriptions for all images
Use content warnings / trigger warnings (CW/TW) where sensitive content is being shared