My Statement on My Removal as President of Young Humanists International
Delivering my re-election speech from a chair (broken leg) on June 5, 2022, at the Humanists International General Assembly in Glasgow.
4-5 minute reading time.
On June 10th, 2022, while I was inaccessible on a 10-hour flight, I was removed from my role as President of Young Humanists International and as a Board member of Humanists International. It had been just five days since I was elected democratically with 87% support from the voting body.
While the remaining Humanists International leadership continues to ignore my requests for additional information about why I was removed suddenly and covertly, I will tell you what I do know.
But first, let me share who I am and what I bring to this movement.
I was raised in the Ethical Culture movement. Of the 12 Core Values I was taught as a child enrolled in what is now known as Sunday Ethical Education for Kids, there is one core value with which I resonated most as a child, which I do my best to embody as an adult:
“I am a member of the world community, which depends on the cooperation of all people for peace and justice.”
This core value has carried me into the lifestyle I now lead as a global nomad. It has framed my unique experiences around the world, which have given me keen insight into the perspective of marginalized fellow world community members that I would not otherwise have. I’ve developed an understanding of what peace and justice look like outside the white, male-centered, imperialist framework that most of us are taught as children.
But I also take this core value a step further: I dig into what “cooperation” really means – I question the ethical implications of travel and moving through the world at will. I live it. Because ethics through lipservice are no ethics at all.
“Lead by example.”
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves.”
The concept of value embodiment has been around long enough to become cliche. With great intention (and plenty of human mistakes), I have already spent years committed to embodying what I want to see embodied worldwide.
As a white US American, my privilege affords me access and resources that too many others do not have. I feel called to use that privilege to help those who continue to be marginalized. In the same way, I hope those humanists with more privilege than me feel empowered to use their voices to advocate for and amplify mine in spaces to which I do not have access.
My priorities lie in advocating for those most marginalized of voices – people with disabilities, People of Color, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, LGBTQ, young people, women, the impoverished, and our environment. Through my practice of humanism, I am committed to both listening to and hearing these voices of the systematically oppressed and speaking up and amplifying them when it is time for advocacy.
Despite its intentions to be at the forefront of living ethics and to stand in support of the most marginalized, humanism is, unfortunately, far from being such. It is a truth that sits firmly at the core of every growth issue experienced by the humanist movement. For far too long, the movement's ethics have been more talk than action, focused on the theoretical over the practical.
I want to change that.
I now understand that I am called to this movement to help hold ourselves accountable to our stated values. Mediocrity does not have a place within my humanism. I seek to practice the most progressive interpretation of humanism, which includes both actively embodying my humanist values and proactively addressing cases in which actions do not align with stated values.
This is what I did when I spoke out against the negligent COVID policies and unchecked white privilege within Humanists International that was on full display at the General Assembly and international conference in Glasgow at the start of June. I first sought to engage with fellow leaders so that we could hold ourselves accountable to HI’s stated policies and our humanist values. When it became clear that there was no shared will to step up and proactively care for our members, I attempted to create solutions – including a resolution to require proof of vaccine at our next offline event – and I was met with resistance every step of the way.
Despite Humanists International’s ratified 2021 COVID policy calling for the prioritization of science, public health, and equal access to vaccines, attendees of the events held June 2-5, 2022, caught and spread COVID to multiple continents over the course of less than a week. These members put their trust in us, and we failed them.
When the organization, despite my urging, refused to act with urgency to notify attendees and enact any sort of contact tracing, I took matters into my own hands. I posted about the COVID outbreak through my personal social media accounts and reached out directly to check on as many attendees as possible.
The health and well-being of my peers and their friends, families, and communities is a matter I take very seriously.
In response to my calling attention to this COVID outbreak, the Board leadership called an emergency meeting with 1-hour notice to be held while I was known to be inaccessible on my 11-hour flight from London to LA. In this 5 am PDT meeting, they unanimously voted for my removal under the accusations that I brought the organization into “disrepute” and denounced my actions as “uncollegial.”
After deep reflection, I stand by my actions to hold the organization accountable to its own stated COVID policy and the elevated humanist values that should surpass those of inadequate government policies.
That said, I would have changed how I delivered my criticism about the white privilege and tone-deaf tropes on display at the conference – I would not have done so through social media posts. However, my criticism remains the same: the content in our program was not nuanced enough to deviate from the same tired privileged perspectives. My actions in tweeting about the lack of diversity on these panels was a demonstration of poor judgment on my part and hurt the staff’s feelings which was not my intent. Intent does not matter when the impact causes harm, which I did, and for that, I am deeply sorry. While I cannot change the past, I attempted to make amends by sending personal apologies to each of them and affirming the wonderful attributes each of them brings to our work once it was brought to my attention.
Speaking out for what’s right came at a very high cost – a cost I never expected to be forced to pay – but it was a cost well-worth paying when compared with the cost of betraying my humanist values. I do not belong in an organization that acts so swiftly and with such finality against dissenters and whistleblowers while acting so slowly to prevent a public health emergency they, themselves, perpetuated.
I am grateful to have been elected twice to such an esteemed role and to have served the global humanist community. While it was an incredible learning experience, I am confident that my passion and skills will be best put to use serving humanists who are personally committed to improving how they practice their values. I see this turbulent time as an opportunity to better align my work with my priorities and values.
I look forward to these future opportunities to help humanists engage in ethical action.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me during this challenging transition period.