This long-form series is designed to spark conversation about diversity, Radical Inclusion, and differences in the global Burning Man community. Topics include: where the lines are for cultural appropriation of art, music, and fashion, is “Why aren’t there more people of color at Burning Man?” the question we should be asking, how far the 10 Principles stretch beyond the playa, and what being a year-round, worldwide culture means for the inclusiveness and diversity of Burning Man.
(Header image: “Broken But Together” by Michael Benisty; design by Tanner Boeger; photos by Leori Gill and Philippe Meicler)
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Alba Roland Mejia on Race, Film, and Dust
Alba Roland Mejia is an Oakland-based filmmaker. She visited Black Rock City for the first time in 2022 and shot a short film, I Can Do Anything — A Letter to the Burning Man Community from a Black Man, on Super 8mm film. Transcript edited for clarity. Dominique: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where …Read More
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Black Lives Matter
My earliest memory of the police killing an unarmed black man is from February 1999. Amadou Diallo, a young, highly educated Liberian man living in the Bronx, was shot at 41 times and hit 19 times by four plainclothes NYPD officers. As a mixed-race kid born and raised in New York City, I’ll never forget …Read More
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Yodassa Williams on Being a Black Femme Burner
Yodassa Williams is an accomplished storyteller and writer in the Bay Area. She is an alumna of The Ohio State University and University of Delaware for undergrad and graduate studies in fashion. In October 2019, Yodassa launched Writers Emerging, a wilderness writing retreat at Fly Ranch for women of color and non binary writers of …Read More
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Ed Fletcher and the Good Medicine of Burning Man
Ed Fletcher is a filmmaker, journalist, and the president of Sacramento Valley Spark, a nonprofit organization started in 2012 that aims to unite the local community through the 10 Principles, art, and radical change. He first visited Black Rock City in 2008 and has been back every year since. Transcript edited for clarity. Dominique: How …Read More
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Erin Douglas and the Black Burner Project
Erin Douglas started Black Burner Project in 2018, a project that aims to spread awareness of the people of color who attend the Burning Man event in Black Rock City through photography and personal stories, and help them prepare for the week in the desert. She first visited Black Rock City in 2017, and is …Read More
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Rachel Sadd on Social Contracts and Micro-inclusions
Rachel Sadd has been the Executive Director of the Ace Monster Toys makerspace in Oakland since July 2015. Born into a multiracial family in the Bay Area, she’s been a maker all her life and previously worked in the tech and finance industries. Known as Crafty on (and off) playa, she’s been building for the …Read More
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Marlon Williams on the 10 Principles’ Racial Limits
Marlon Williams is the Assistant Director for Public Sector Innovation at Living Cities, a national organization that works to build more racially and economically equitable urban centers in the United States. Marlon wants to build cities where “you don’t have to be lucky to get ahead.” He was born in Guyana and grew up in …Read More
Diversity & Radical Inclusion: Élida Bautista on Identity and How Burners Can Create Change
Élida Bautista, PhD is the Director of Inclusion and Diversity at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She sets school-wide strategy for diversity and equity-related programs focused on students, and works to create a more inclusive school climate. Bautista earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Michigan. Before beginning at UC Berkeley, …Read More
More on This Important Topic…
What I Learned from Bringing My First Art Piece to Black Rock City
By Erin DouglasWhat the heck just happened? It’s been months since we left the desert and I’m still working through this in my head. So bear with me. In fact, I’ll probably need a year to process what happened to me, how I feel about it, and then to find better words for articulating it. What I …Read More
My Boundless Experience at Burning Man’s Charitable Auction
By Erin DouglasBoundless Space…. what a whirlwind of a week. I experienced an out-of-the-box collision of two worlds with more in common than one may think. The collaboration brought together Sotheby’s, one of the oldest auction houses in the world, and Burning Man, one of the largest and most unique experiences driven by artists and creatives. It …Read More
Neon Voices: An Anti-Racism Illuminated Urban Art Piece
These last eight months have left me feeling angry, frustrated and confused. The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (to name just two) at the hands of police are piercing reminders of the systemic racism and police brutality embedded in our society. With the cancellation of Black Rock City, my friends and campmates had …Read More
An Update on Diversity & Radical Inclusion
As an organization that believes the world’s a better place with Burning Man in it, and one that’s committed to spreading the culture that comes from Black Rock City throughout the world, we have a long way to go when it comes to race and diversity. As a culture that preaches the virtues of diversity, …Read More
A Letter to the Burning Man Community from a Black Man
By Guest PostRob Smith, aka Black Rock Smitty, is a filmmaker from New York. He shared this perspective on social media and gave us his permission to repost it here. As always, we ask you to keep it kind and constructive in the comments. We will not tolerate hateful, racist or ignorant posts. Greetings, I hope you’re …Read More