This tribe is moderated and does not have an open membership. Prospective members must request to join. Membership is not sex or race-based. Anyone may join provide they understand that this is a forum for gay men of color who affirm their African lineage to exchange ideas without having to explain the effects of racism, heterosexism, gender non conforming bias or the dynamics of racial, heterosexual, gender conforming privilege to friends within the tribe. It must also be accepted by our friends that using the Woubi-Yossi Collective to "cruise" or seek to objectify people of color for their own purposes is prohibited.

I'm not sure what censorship you were referring to, TerryTown, unless as John speculated you were referring to another tribe. Since I became the moderator, I've only had to advise one member that a photo he posted was inappropriate (and why). The member removed the photo immediately.

However, I'm not as tolerant as Literary was. Personal attacks won't be tolerated under any circumstances. Differences of opinion are one thing. Catty, shady sniping at anyone is quite another.


It's nice to see that an exchange of ideas has (finally) developed in this thread. Hats off to Mad Jack Kash for starting this thread.

I've been reflecting on the things being said...

SteamPoof's input that "we're afraid of getting too personal and things getting out of hand" caught my attention, particularly. We could always choose to make this tribe private. This would not enable non-members to view our tribe AT ALL. We would be hidden. However, I'm not sure this would effectively address anyone's fear of disclosures and/or emotionally charged responses. One downside to going private is that our tribe membership would only be able to grow by invitation only. New members to the site would not be able to find our tribe using keywords and the search engine.

Yes, TerryTown, I know the "different place" your points of view arise from (*wink*). It is to be expected that no one among is the mirror image of anyone else. Our individual viewpoints are what makes for the diversity of the tribe. If all of our viewpoints conformed to societal norms and mores there'd be nothing of substance to discuss. There would be no potential for learning or growth. Any, yes, there'd be no potential for controversy. I can't guarantee that no one will feel "lambasted" for an expressed opinion. I can only help insure that the line is not crossed into personal attacks by any individual member without moderator intervention.

I agree with Roger and John that re-introducing ourselves (or introducing ourselves initially) is a good idea.

Finally, I've decided to cut WAY DOWN on posting articles. It would have been WAY more work than I was willing to do to post articles along with a summary and personal commentary (especially, when wasn't sure anyone was reading my posts, except Roger). However, I was always willing to voice my opinions about the articles during the course of any discussions that ensued.

Oh, by the way, if there are any long standing hold-outs out there, please feel free to post your opinions. It's never too late to break your silence and share yourself with your brothers here.