As an African you have to make a timestamped or live video of yourself writing and submit it like a behind the scenes for every piece of writing you send out or it was AI.

Open letter to Simbarashe Steyn Kundizeza and the @CainePrize on the allegations by @vauhinivara & @TheAtlantic. And anyone else facing anything like this. Sue when you can, & be conscious of time & the statute of limitations. You can be reeling from this, trying to find your footing, & before you know, it's too late. They know & count on this. They depend on your powerlessness & non responsiveness. That's why they don't do it to people who can serve them real consequences. And this is very damaging & ways that may only be apparent now. Digital footprint is messed up. When you enter for other contests, fellowships, apply for workshops, mfas, panels, when agents send out your work to publishers for acquisition, they will look you up, as they will do due diligence at some stage in the process, usually late stages. These accusations are what will come up. And a headline is enough. Just the smear of scandal. From The Guardian, BBC, The Atlantic, seemingly respectable platforms. You won't be able to explain that it's a careless, lazy allegation. You won't be afforded the opportunity to explain. You won't be asked. You won't have the chance to know where it's being brought up & know the things you are being cut out of, let alone rebut the allegation. You won't even be in the rooms where these things are being said. You'll just find yourself getting less & less opportunities. Being declined from things you were strongly recommended for, cut out of things you were formerly even solicited for. Inexplicably being removed at later stages for projects you had a certain chance of getting. People will be suddenly busy, engaged. You tell writers about this. What awaits after you start hitting the milestones of success as a Black person and it seems like pessimism. They say they'll be exempt. But a positive mindset isn't the solution. Denying the reality Black writers have faced for generations definitely isn't it. And yes, generations. This isn't new. It was already old in the 2000s. It didn't start with AI. First they came with plagiarism for so many before you. That at least they have to do some work for, to find where the plagiarism is supposedly from, and try to fit your work to it. That took some work. With this, all they have to do is say it. They don't even have to bother with showing any reasoning or jumbled, made up evidence for. Understanding what's going on in the environment around us, educating ourselves about anti Blackness is the first step to finding a solution. African writers are the most vulnerable artists out there. Succeeding ones, even more so. Just a careless, unfounded accusation from people who may or may not be malicious. Even ones from simple laziness or carelessness can destroy. The solution, the elderly and powerful amongst us must rally around these ones, protect the dying embers of their voices the world is extinguishing. And I don't mean just insisting on their due process & their innocence. I mean ensuring they & their livelihood survive, & then their voices. I am calling on @epwa66 and the @CainePrize to shepherd and cocoon this young writer. It was under their watch he got his gut and jugular slashed. They should foot legal fees, pay a publicist if they have to, continue to closely guard and support his career. Make sure his works get published, he always has a place for his words, from here on. So we don't wake up one day and wonder why another young African flame has sputtered out. This damage done today will become more apparent as time passes, and especially when the world has moved on and turned its eyes away. We must take steps to ameliorate that. I hope the Caine Prize, its chairs, and all involved will take note of this now and do the actual work of protecting the vulnerable young voices it coaxed out. Our responsibility in championing African literature goes beyond just tossing the seeds on the ground, to making sure they survive into saplings, and then great trees.