Exclusive: The Untold Perspective of Twitch’s “Black History Month Summit,” Where They Are Now, and Call to Action For True D&I Foundation.
As October is recognized as Black History Month in the United Kingdom, in the gaming space, a perspective of where Amazon’s Twitch has progressed in diversity and inclusion from February to present.
WRITER’S NOTE: The following column is a first-hand account of being a participant of Twitch’s inaugural “Black History Summit” in February 2020 at Twitch Headquarters in San Francisco, California. For the protection of identities and respect to a verbal non-disclosure agreement, Twitch personnel expressed below will only be labeled as employees and intricate details of roundtables/breakout sessions are not disclosed.
When it comes to diversity and inclusion, as of October 2020: Twitch still has ways to go when it comes to its D&I standards, mission, and values. Specific to Blackness, Twitch’s corporate, leadership support for people of the African Diaspora is only a short-arm reach on a surface, external level. It is my belief that its reach is not yet long enough to truly shake up its top-down, organizational conformity.
As a former member of The Cookout, along with its founder, I was invited to Twitch HQ (Disclosure: Twitch did accommodate flight and hotel for all attendees) in regards to an event back in February related to roundtables and breakout sessions between Black creators and Twitch employees on topics that included products, moderation and safety, as well as partnerships towards the Black community. Below is a summary:
“Here’s the recap of what the Summit is: ‘That’s why, on February 12, Twitch is hosting our first ever Black History Month summit at Twitch Headquarters in San Francisco. As part of that, we’d love to bring out about a dozen creators out to experience this with each other as Twitch staff listens, takes feedback, and provide you with insights into what’s coming and strategies for elevating streams.'”
-Twitch employee via email dated Jan 31, 2020
To paraphrase, the day-long event was a rushed interaction that, months later, did not feel as if it was a well-invested enough from Twitch’s stance. There were 11 Black creators, varying from Twitch partners, organizational leaders, Esports representatives, as well as content creators, who were invited. How the selection process was created is not to be seen (I actually got cosigned by the founder to be able to come), but some topics addressed during the day were the following: Refining community feedback/support process from consumer to Twitch; Reevaluating specifics within Twitch’s Terms of Service (TOS) + Community Guidelines related to racism/discrimination; Being direct in the need on Twitch’s transparency.
If you look it up today and search “Twitch BHM Summit” it is almost nonexistent. The only thing marketing-related was the keynote presented that day on the official Twitch page, which was, in actuality, a Q&A with a Black YouTube personality about his personal path to becoming a content creator. This “keynote” from Twitch did not feel like it was a definitive messaging in support of Black History and/or Black History Month, but simply a Q&A with attendees in the background as an “audience.”
Sadly, eight months have passed and very minimal progress has been made in regards to what all was discussed back in February. Diversity initiatives? Sure, there has been some further strides in collaborative, diverse efforts this year [Examples: Twitch’s 2020 U.S. Black History Month Recognition, Black Girl Gamers Online Summit, Black Girl Gamers’ #BGGWkndr, Brown Girl Gamer Code Code Chat, Motherland RPG debut, Black Twitch U.K. Black History Month event], but inclusion? Well, you can’t have diversity without inclusion, point blank.
[READ: TruThoughts: The Labor for Black/People of Color In Fighting for Diversity (Equity) & Inclusion.]
Keep in mind also of the current events that have occurred and impacted Black lives around the world this year [SEE: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, #EndSARS]. While not directly related to gaming and content creating, the Black community has been affected, one way or another, in the continued fight of affirming that #BlackLivesMatter worldwide. Corporations have some type of responsibility in confirming (or not confirming) to their employees and audience in their stance when it comes to Black lives.
Twitch initially attempted to do just that with a marketing video, but fell short in the intention of messaging, ultimately pulling their Black Lives Matter video after criticism from Black creators. Black creators would soon counteract with creating an affirmation video of their own expressing to Twitch to support both Black people and their Black creators:
And while they would later create a global “Black fist” emote in the marketing push of support for #BlackLivesMatter, to me, it’s not enough.
Other instances of falling short this year include the unfolding of many sexual assault accusations, racist and discriminatory acts from the company that were uncovered over the summer, with in reaction, Twitch CEO’s Emmett Shear (who has been at the helm for almost 10 years) tweeted that all of this would be addressed. Twitch would later provide a community update, but again, not enough. Twitch would again fall short in apologizing for the offensive Hispanic Heritage Month emotes they created for National Hispanic Heritage Month, and dare may I say it again: It’s not enough.
Back in May 12, 2017, Twitch created a campaign “#TwitchUnity” originally designed to be “a site-wide holiday celebrating inclusivity and diversity on our streams, chats, apps, and community at large in a variety of ways.” According to their website, the intent for Twitch on the campaign was to โwelcome everyoneโ into their company values. As a result of the lack of representation within the campaign itself, many more diverse communities and organizations were formed that began filling the void.
On Oct. 1, 2018, Twitch hired its first head of diversity and inclusion, but ultimately that person silently transitioned out the role (unknown timing of when), with no updates whatsoever from Twitch as to why or if another hire had filled the position.
Bottom line: Twitch’s leadership and executives have a lot more work to do in terms of diversity and inclusion from the inside in order to truly reflect that on the outside.
While its employees, including their Black Guild, as well as their other Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), have done their best from their respective levels, it is eventually up to those in power and positions of authority to make that foundational change in regards to the company’s status quo.
Competitors, YouTube and Facebook (both have video live streaming platforms), have publicly announced long-term support initiatives for Black businesses and voices. YouTube recently introduced the #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund, with its original intent of being a “$100 million fund to center and amplify Black voices and perspectives on YouTube, alongside a commitment to doing better as a platform to protect Black creators, artists and users.” Facebook announced this year of supporting Black and diverse communities with “an additional $200 million to support Black-owned businesses and organizations,” with also introducing a Black Creator Program as a “$25 million investment to Black creators to support the Black community on Facebook and Instagram.”
More leaders, more executives, more standard operating procedures that are enforced, more long-term financial investments, as well as truly listening to their community are just some of the few off the top of my head that Twitch needs to analyze if they truly desire to remain on top of the video live streaming industry. Only then will I truly believe in Twitch’s diversity and inclusion values. Until then, the work continues and accountability must be conducted within its workforce.
PS: For those in executive leadership position in the Video Game / Esports industry, SEE: Five-Point Plan above related to Content Creators.
READ: Letter To Twitch HQ via “Black History Month” Feedback Survey (June 2020)
