In making space for minority voices, you must understand how unique that is! You must understand how special that is! And, tantamount to that, you must understand that in doing so you are making opportunities for those that do not have had one! The art of centering minority voices means that you are cognizant of what it means to make opportunities. You are making inroads, windows and doors where there none before! Making these opportunities, maintaining these spaces allow you to demonstrate what it means to not just center a voice, as well as amplify it.
The one thing which needs to be reminded is when you center someone, when you recognize someone (especially if that person is of a minority designation!), you are doing the good work of fighting erasure! One of the ways that minority voices are silenced, moved, or erased is when they are not recognized!
YOU CAN ONLY RECOGNIZE WHAT YOU SEE!
THE SENSES WHICH POWERS RECOGNITION ARE SIGHT AND VISION!
As a minority person who makes space, maintains space, I understand how valuable it is to be seen and to be heard. One cannot exist with the other! In order to center a voice, you have to hear it and see where and who it comes from! This is why centering minority voices is indeed an art–you need the artistic vision to build and the wherewithal to make sure you do all you can to build a platform not just you can benefit from.
Issa Rae said in an interview to look at who is around you–and see who is hungry: those are the people you build with. Those are the people you network with, you pool resources with! This is a process, yes, but it is not impossible.
Think about it:
Who do you see around you?
What do you want to build?
Who do you think other people need to see?
Extend yourself to someone so you can get what you need–so you can be what someone else might need.
The Ideal Firestarter 