Skip to content

Member Guidelines

Shared values of consent, community care, and accountability with our liberated spaced

The BKN Member Guidelines are a shared framework for how we thrive together. As part of a living, liberated community, each member carries the responsibility of shaping our culture through accountability, authenticity, and care. These principles honor the richness of our Black and queer experiences while ensuring that our collective remains a space of learning, respect, pleasure, and liberation.

As a member of the Black Kink Network, you are part of an inclusive, accessible collective rooted in liberation, accountability, and authenticity. These guidelines are not just shared agreements but practices to help us thrive together.

1. Participation & Presence

  • Show up when you can — whether at virtual munches, podcasts, workshops, or live events.

  • Engage with curiosity, respect, and an open mind.

  • Contribute your voice, your story, and your perspective as appropriate.

2. Education & Growth

  • Commit to ongoing self-education in BDSM, kink, non-monogamy, spirituality, and other liberated practices.

  • Share accessible, communal resources, knowledge, and wisdom with others when possible.

  • Approach learning with curiosity, knowing we are all both students and teachers.

3. Community Care

  • Check in on fellow members and support collective wellbeing within your level of capacity..

  • Practice generosity of spirit: offer encouragement, kindness, and help when you can, trusting that it will be returned to you.

  • Hold space for differences while upholding shared values. 

 

  • We aim to empower you to exercise your full capability of communicating and executing your own boundaries and emotional comfort. (Differences can be beneficial, means of connection and encountering new perspectives.)

4. Respecting Diversity

  • Honor the spectrum of Blackness, queerness, gender, ability, body, spirituality, and varied ethnicities represented within the network that exist within the world.

  • Make space for marginalized voices and experiences without appropriation, bias, or erasure.

  • Challenge oppressive ideals and behaviors with care and accountability.

5. Contribution & Representation

  • Bring your creativity, talents, and passions into the network when you’re ready.

  • Represent BKN with integrity in external spaces — embodying liberation, respect, and authenticity.

  • Remember that each member helps shape our collective reputation and legacy.

6. Accountability & Repair

  • Harm can be layered and intentional or unintentional. If you cause harm, commit to listening to the impact while also sharing intent, seeking resolution, and growing from the experience.

  • If you witness harm, speak up in the moment and use your voice to address discomfort or speak to trusted members in a way that aligns with your capacity and protects the safety of you and those involved.

  • Trust the collective process for addressing conflicts within shared culture. There is a protected process for addressing communal accountability and repair.

7. Joy & Liberation

  • Remember that pleasure, joy, and play are fluid, and its liberation is central to why we gather.

  • Celebrate the erotic, the sacred, and the radical ways we free ourselves.

  • Allow space for the magic, the messiness, and the transformation of your inner process and journey. 

If you’re non-Black member or visitor entering our spaces, please take time to read the Guidelines for Non-Black Members & Visitors. Your awareness and care help protect the integrity of Black-centered community and connection within BKN.