Black Rock Center for Unlearning welcomes the stranger. The stranger the better.

[Princess_Pee_Foot]

I heard Mercury was in retrograde again. So if this comes off all wrong, let's just chalk it up to that, okay?

Now then. Without further ado:

If you’re looking for your 2019 home on playa and you are interested in becoming part of a slightly dysfunctional, but highly organized campily - or if you have no idea what the heck you’re doing and you’re terrified of trying to survive a week in the desert and you need a safe place to figure out how to do that, with love, tolerance and room to fail*, we just might be the camp for you.

First, I need to tell you that we are not Pink Heart. We love Pink Heart. We think Halcyon is great. His contributions to the Burning Man community on a local and global scale are nothing short of admirable.

But. Like. We can't all be warm and fuzzy. We can't all be the Bradys or the Cleavers. Some of us are a lot more Roseanne than Carol or June. You know, minus the weird hypnotherapy and racism.

Okay. It’s me. I’m some of us. See, there are times when someone endangers the human(s) you’re responsible for, and you have to get your point across in a way that is readily understood. And when you need to make such a point to 100 people, you have to do it loud enough for them to hear. So when, on extremely rare occasions, someone endangers the safety, life, or well being of another camper - or campers- I have been known to address the situation - at a group level- in a manner that might be considered brash. And with a bullhorn.

I guess also I say fuck kind of a lot. Which can make normal things sound scary. Which is, for what it’s worth, not my fucking banana.

I am telling you this up front for the same reason there's a giant tag on hair dryers telling you not to throw them in the bathtub. It seemed like it would go without saying, but then there was an incident. And now we come with a warning label. Later, on playa, over breakfast, I will tell the story of the tampon people. And it will all make sense.

Beyond the possibility that I might get angry if someone thinks it’s okay to leave tampons in the camp potties assuming someone else will clean up after them, I’m really quite nice. I think most people grow to love me. And I gotta tell you, it’s pretty fucking great to have the HBIC with a bullhorn at the ready watching your back. While you’re just trying to find a clean pair of socks, we -that is, me along with an incredible team of leads- are making sure breakfast is ready on time, safely and thoroughly cooked; your camp potties are clean and free of debris; no one is causing black water spills; no one is poisoning you with allergens; your camp is safely set up according to fire code; and no one is harassing, threatening or assaulting you.

Awesome, right? I know I really appreciate all the BRCU leads who have my back. But it doesn’t come without strings. BRCU is a community. We all contribute. And we all work together to build and maintain a home in the desert. Radical inclusion and acculturation are central to our core values. In furtherance of our desire to make Burning Man and burner culture more accessible to more people, we pool our resources to organize and facilitate (1) an amazing 24 hour bar and interactivity, which is our collective gift to the community; (2) an amazing and pretty accommodating meal plan; (3) private camp potties; (4) a no-frills camp shower; (5) water delivery. We also welcome up to 50% virgins every year. We make it our responsibility to acculturate, care for and guide baby burners in their journey to becoming excellent citizens of BRC.


If you want to know more, please message me here or email me at [email protected]. I’m Emily. And I’m here to help.

<3e

*Love, tolerance and room to fail does not mean warm fuzzies and coddling. It means you are allowed to fail and we are still your family. You are allowed to flail and we are still your home. It means you don’t have to be perfect or “on” or “a good fit.” It means that as long as you don’t assault or harass anyone, you get to be you and you get to figure out what that means and how to grow. It means you don’t have to do it right the first time. It means there is a kind of love, tolerance and acceptance that isn’t all sunshine, bunnies and sharing circles.