I will not devalue your art. I wish I could pay you more.

My two cents on whatever this odd internal debate going on regarding Medium is right now

Photo Credit: UnSplash

Medium is for writers. Medium is for readers. Medium is for art.

We are making art. We are creating art.

We are making community. We are creating community.

So, this being said, I have to ask:

What is up with the handful of articles/potential movement going on right now that is focused on somehow ensuring only a select few get support via the only way we can support each other, — with our claps/dollars?

Let me say this loud and clear, because this is important: I will not devalue your art.

I will not devalue your voice. I will not devalue your creativity. I wish I could pay you more.

I wish I could give you more.

Now, this being said, fam: Please note, I will devalue your misogyny. I will devalue your racism. I will devalue your classism and elitism. I will devalue your homophobia. I will devalue meanness for the sake of meanness. I will devalue controversy for the sake of controversy. My claps and time will not be wasted on this noise, trust that.

But rest assured, I will not devalue your art.

I applaud the creativity at work on Medium. Read that again, at work. We are doing work. We are doing gig economy work. We are doing freelance work. We are doing artist work.

Yes it is easy, yes it is fun, yes we pay to join.

And, big shocker, yes, we depend on each other and other members to get a share of the beautiful co-op-esq type community cash that is the Medium Partnership Program.

That does not mean we are not worthy of some support, some claps, some love.

This whole movement on medium to somehow dole out claps only to those deemed ‘deserving’ is an elitist game. Who decides what is deserving, what is art, what is quality? Those who write about their little systems and ways to reward and punish, — nah fam. You can keep that nonsense to yourself if it is what you believe in doing.

Photo Credit: UnSplash, of what I imagine all of us Medium writers would do if we had a get together somewhere, yes please.

We have to be better than this.

We are in this because not many other places offer a safe, supportive, happy, creative space to pay writers.

We are in this because Medium has given us a platform to create.

God bless us every one. God bless Medium.

So, instead of hoarding your claps and playing favorites or judging people for only writing haiku or using punctuation in ways that you deem incorrect, — why not realize we are all here to learn, grow, share, and create?

We are not here to grade each other. We are here to grow with each other.

This is an artist space. Not a kingdom. Not a monarchy.

Art is haiku. Art is beautiful crayon drawings of poetry. Art is breaking rules. Art is writing that comes from the heart.

And art is supporting people in ways that encourage them to grow, to spread their wings, to fly higher.

Art is not shaming, hoarding, belittling, or trivializing things that are creative and uplifting.

Yes, go hard all day in shaming and slamming things that deserve it — misogynistic trash, elitism, sexism, racism, things that turn people into objects and products, things that devalue the spirit — by all means, keep your claps for the stuff that is contributing to the good of humanity. Block it, report it, write about how awful it is, or, even better, use your art to make sure all of this actual trash is seen for what it is.

If you don’t like haiku, if you don’t like humor, if you don’t like this or that, then that is about you. No need to write an article calling for others to somehow join in your crusade against this form of writing, this style of art.

Just ignore it. Focus on whatever it is you do like. Support whatever it is that you do like.

Art means poetry. Art means personal essay. Art means fiction. Art means hard hitting articles that expose with facts and journalism. Medium is about sharing our art. About sharing our voice.

Let’s support each other in this as best we can with what we have. And what we have are our claps, our highlights, our responses, our follows, our shares.

These are the boundaries of our community for now. This is how we show each other that we see each other, that we understand each other.

But I know for me, and for many, the things that I have read and the community that I have found on Medium has gone beyond those boundaries.

It has touched my heart, it has lifted my spirit, and it has given me an artists home, a writer’s home.

And I wish I could give every single one of us who is out here working and hustling and dreaming that dream of art and creation so much more.

Jenny Justice is a mom, Sociology instructor, and writer. You can follow her on Medium and at Jenny Justice, Writer