My Project, Their Rage, and Our Conversation
They say you know you’re making an impact when people can’t help but point out what they think you’re doing wrong. Lately, I’ve been making an impact.
The critique has been coming from a predictable place, through an unexpected channel: the NextDoor app in Albany, NY.
As many of you know, my life and my research are bicoastal. I spend months at a time in both Albany and Oakland, working on the Labor Pains project. To ground my family amidst the constant change, I try to build routines and stay deeply connected to local news and events in both cities. This often means my phone is always in hand, and my workday has an extra three hours built in to span two time zones.
Why this relentless effort? Because I am dedicated to building community through restorative practices. While I have no desire to restore a previous version of America, I am passionate about restoring our compassion for one another. I want to nurture the part of us that connects with someone simply because they are human. In a culture driven by capitalist thinking—where every action is weighed for its immediate benefit—this intentional act of seeing each other’s humanity is counter-cultural. It can feel revolutionary.
The act of recognizing humanity in one another is what makes us human. To deny it is to rob both the denier and the denied of rational thought. I will fight for that shared humanity with my dying breath.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been using the NextDoor app in Albany to share content from this project, engaging with the community like any 21st-century artist-academic would. No blame, no judgment—just sharing my research, my conclusions, and my artistic interpretations.
For the most part, the interactions have been positive and encouraging. The feedback has helped me reflect on my presentation and integrate other ideas. A surprising and promising audience for my work began to form. This is exactly why I do this work—to connect.
But the core of my work is hard for some to swallow. I unapologetically center Black women: our voices, our perspectives, our experiences. In doing so, I have successfully touched a raw nerve of white fragility and male rage in the region.
Suddenly, I’m being called “racist” and “divisive.” Not because of anything hateful I’ve said, but because I am naming the phenomena of white fragility and white rage as they appear. Because my work does not center their thoughts, feelings, or opinions, it is perceived as an attack. Some of these individuals—mostly middle-aged and retired—have taken the time to go through my entire profile and report every single post related to the Labor Pains project. They have dedicated their energy to dissecting comments to prove their point. They can’t just scroll past.
This is all happening while I am simply working to create a space for Black women to share their labor experiences. This backlash is a part of my labor experience.
And what I am most proud of is my reaction. A younger, less mature me would have taken the bait. I would have leaped to my keyboard, armed with facts, to engage in a fruitless online battle with people who have no interest in learning. But as I was once told when I became a teacher: never argue with someone whose goal isn’t to understand, but to distract you from your task.
My task is clear, and I will pursue it with vigor. These reactions don’t deter me; they prove my point and underscore the urgent need for this project.
Join the Work
This experience isn’t a setback; it’s a real-time case study of why this work is vital. The discomfort my project surfaces is the very reason we need to keep talking. This conversation is for everyone, and this is your invitation to join it.
If you believe in the importance of centering Black women’s stories and fostering genuine dialogue about labor, race, and community, here is how you can support and stay connected:
- Follow the Project: Join our growing community on Instagram at @laborpainsproject and engage with us on NextDoor.
- Subscribe: Don’t miss a post. Subscribe to the Labor Pains blog to get updates directly in your inbox.
- Amplify the Conversation: Share this post on Facebook and LinkedIn to bring more people into the discussion. You can follow and tag me personally at @Jae Gayle on both platforms.
Thank you for being here and for proving that this work matters.
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