#2: Principle 1 – Radical Inclusion

Hi there!  This is Shuga coming at you from the Acculturation Committee for Ignition Northwest.  This is our second installment of our exploration of the Ten+1 Principles of Burning Man: Principle 1: Radical Inclusion.

As a refresher, Principle 1 – Radical Inclusion states: Anyone may be a part of Burning Man. We welcome and respect the stranger. No prerequisites exist for participation in our community.

One of the founders of Burning Man, Larry Harvey, further describes the connection that we build at Burning Man as “fellowship, as in the fellowship of a club or lodge whose members, however diverse, are united by common values and a sense of shared experience.”  (https://journal.burningman.org/2014/12/philosophical-center/tenprinciples/equality-inequity-iniquity-concierge-culture/ )  The key word here is diverse.  Radical inclusion requires that we welcome and embrace diversity in all of its forms.  We should not only say that we welcome all, but build our community in such a way that we are truly considering those of differing backgrounds than ourselves.  It requires that we consider what would call in our BIPOC community, our LGBTQIA+ community, our other abled community; that we call in all socio-economic levels as well.  This is how we tear down walls of thought and instead build bridges.  This also requires stretching oneself and allowing oneself to be uncomfortable; truly embracing that which is different from us takes courage and commitment.  So, next I’d like to talk a bit about the ways in which BMorg has committed to radical inclusion.

One long term controversial system at BMorg, the high priced pre-sale tickets to Burning Man, is in fact part of a program of radical inclusion.  This is because they utilize the excess cost of those tickets to subsidize the low income tickets, in essence taking money from the rich to subsidize participation by poorer burners.  This helps to call in differing socio-economic levels.

Something that we have seen grow during the pandemic is the use of VR for connecting our community.  This is also a great step in the direction of radical inclusion, in that it allows for those who cannot attend events in person, be it due to health or mobility reasons or financial ones, to still participate.  I would love to see this persist into the future for both the big Burn and regionals and smaller events.

In addition, beginning in 2019, BMorg began to intentionally focus on radical inclusion through the lens of diversity and racial justice.  They organized a stewardship group and an advisory committee dedicated to increasing diversity, equity and radical inclusion.  These groups form the backbone of the R.I.D.E. program.  R.I.D.E. appropriately stands for radical inclusion, diversity and equity.  They have pulled together a wealth of information around this topic on their website, including blogs, reports, census data, projects like the Indigenous Permaculture Days, videos and podcasts.  I highly recommend spending some time with all of the material found here: https://burningman.org/culture/diversity-radical-inclusion/ 

In August of this year, BMorg also instituted an additional pledge to radical inclusion in the form of the R.I.D.E anti-racism pledge.   Within this pledge BMorg has committed to educating their staff and the larger burner community about anti-racism and implicit bias, emotional intelligence, giving and receiving feedback, collaborative decision-making and conflict resolution.  I had the pleasure of participating in this educational program this summer on the Burning Man Hive Labs platform.  This training and collaboration site is open to all and I highly recommend you check it out here: https://hive.burningman.org/landing?from=https%3A%2F%2Fhive.burningman.org%2Ftopics%2F2631350 

Beyond this baseline of increasing education and skills for the burner community, the pledge also commits BMorg to: 

• Making their art grant program more inclusive through proactive outreach, funding, and application and selection process changes
• Intentionally highlighting the stories and storytellers from the BIPOC Burner community and making them easily accessible to the public through their various communications channels
• Developing an accessible R.I.D.E. community engagement framework, including online engagement platforms, town halls, surveys, tool sets, regional collaboration, and innovation in ticketing, recruiting and projects

Their overall goal is to create clear pathways for BIPOC participation in Black Rock City and to support replication in regional events and global community within the next 3 years.  I for one applaud this goal and will work with our regional board to ensure we are making positive changes to increase our radical inclusion here in WA.  

If you feel inspired to help, consider joining the Acculturation Committee (https://ignitionnw.org/home/get-involved/).  We will be tackling several related projects over the next couple of years including putting together a R.I.D.E. guide for theme camps and artists.  What else can you do?  Well, you can encourage your campmates and friends to outreach to underrepresented communities to bring in new members or just to help out in some way (in case you didn’t know Burners Without Borders Seattle has grant money for community projects, just sayin’: https://bwbseattle.org/community-grant-program/ ).  Consider designing your camp or art projects with accessibility in mind.  Develop an infrastructure lending program, for those who can’t afford to buy their own.  Do an audit of your camp, art, and outfits to check for and eliminate cultural appropriation and microaggressions.  These and many other actions can serve to call in a more diverse and inclusive community, which in turn will foster more creative, educational and rich experiences.

If you are interested in getting more involved, check out the INW Get Involved web page at: https://ignitionnw.org/home/get-involved/.  There you can find all of the active committees and roles that you can participate in, including the Acculturation Committee.

Finally, look out for our next installment later in November, where we will discuss the Principle of Gifting.  See you then!

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