All participants of events produced by Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora are expected to abide by our Code of Conduct, both online and during in-person events that are hosted and/or associated with Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora.

The Pledge

In the interest of fostering an open, diverse, inclusive and welcoming environment, we pledge to make participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, neurological diversity, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, class, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

The Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:
* Using welcoming and inclusive language.
* Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences.
* Gracefully accepting constructive criticism.
* Referring to people by their preferred pronouns and using gender-neutral pronouns when uncertain.
* Respecting each other’s identities, names and pronouns at all times.
* If you are unsure of the pronoun someone uses, asking them or avoiding gendered language, e.g. using “they” instead of “he” or “she”.
* Being inclusive and supportive of those who are less confident or who have communication difficulties so that everyone can contribute.
* Listening to and following the instructions of facilitators, including their decisions about what is off-topic and who is next to speak and for how long.
* Rather than interrupting another participant who is speaking, indicating to the facilitator that you wish to speak and then waiting your turn.
* Offering friendly constructive discussion and avoiding any and all personal insults and demeaning or argumentative comments—as the latter are not acceptable.
* Avoiding use of offensive terms derived from pornography.

Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:
* Trolling, insulting/derogatory comments, public or private harassment
* Publishing others’ private information, such as a physical or electronic address, without explicit permission
* Not being respectful to reasonable communication boundaries, such as ‘leave me alone,’ ‘go away,’ or ‘I’m not discussing this with you.’
* Usage of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or advances
We do not tolerate hate speech: any conversations or presentations that involve racist thinking, transphobia, homophobia, classism, and other explicit forms of ignorance.
* Demonstrating graphics or any other content you know may be considered disturbing.
* Assuming or promoting any kind of inequality including but not limited to: age, body size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, nationality and race, personal appearance, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

* Other conduct which you know could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting.

Enforcement

Violations of the Code of Conduct may be reported by sending an email to info@obsidianlit.org. All reports will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.
We hold the right and responsibility to remove comments or other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any members for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

This Code of Conduct page was created with help from Dev.to and edited by Obsidian staff. If you have any queries regarding any of our Code of Conduct, please contact us at info@obsidianlit.org