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Community Guidelines for Use

The Community is designed to be a safe space for you and others to share. In order to maintain this safety and to ensure the growth of our community we ask that you do the following things:

• Do actively participate: true Community would not be possible if it were not for the presence of varied voices
• Do feel free to make suggestions: we are dedicated to constantly improving this space for you, please give us your input on how to make it better
• Do invite others to join our conversation: the more people involved to the conversation, the more we will be able to reach
• Do use your real name: we are interested in knowing who you are and a large part of that identity is your real name. Displaying your name could be helpful in making certain connections with individuals on the site and would maximize your experience.
• Do refrain from using profane or hurtful language: this Community is dedicated to creating healthy constructive conversation refraining from language that is unhealthy and deconstructive will ensure our strength and productivity
• Do post honest responses and personal writings: we are committed to addressing the conversation regarding slavery and its legacies in an honest way, the level of commitment that each individual has in being honest in their posts will help us do this
• Do upload photographs that are not obscene: this is a safe space, which means a space that is free of things that could clearly be morally, emotionally, verbally, or visually threatening to another individual

The facilitators of this Community reserve the right to remove you from the Community if one or all of these guidelines are not followed.

Principles for Community Relations

The Coming to the Table Community is an inclusive population that welcomes multi-cultural, multi-faith, and multi-generational perceptions on the conversation about slavery and its legacy. We welcome all who wish to join the Community so long as they respect our principles and strive to practice them. We acknowledge the challenges associated with addressing this subject matter, which many have not been able to explore in an open and accessible setting. As a way to guide us through potentially emotional and challenging issues and to support each other’s exploration within a safe space, we ask that you as a, potential community member, thoroughly read and respond to the following principles, which govern our behavior relative to ourselves and others.

Respect and Tolerance. I will respect the integrity and value of all Community members as they seek to understand and respond to their experiences and slaver’s history and impact, even if I might disagree with them. To this end, I will regard each person’s contribution to the conversation as valuable and refrain from personal attack.

Honesty, Truthfulness and Transparency. I will seek truth and speak it with openness and transparency.

Justice. I accept that there has been significant harm as a result of the legacy of slavery. I strive to identify those harms and to do my part in making things right by contributing constructively to the conversation.

Kindness. Through kindness I will welcome the thoughts and ideals of others, even if I might not agree with them. To the same end I will offer my own thoughts in kindness as to not intentionally offend another community member.

Reconciliation. I strive to reconcile slavery’s legacy through a journey of seeking peace, justice, mercy and truth.