We do not accept pieces that use AI content creation, including ChatGPT. AI content is plagiarism, even though the systems have been formulated to modify the end result from the stolen materials just enough to be undetectable and circumvent copyright laws. AI copies existing works by existing creatives without their knowledge or consent. It is an inappropriate and inequitable tool for content submitted to any Global Majority Press publication, especially as, at this time, the person using it can’t track down and fairly compensate the original creators for their work.

These are the things that will be rejected and could get you temporarily or permanently banned from The B’K and All My Relations.

If your submission violates any of the guidelines below, you will be informed and temporarily banned from submitting for one month’s time. A rejection for violating a guideline is not the start of an argument. You don’t have to agree with our guidelines, but if you choose to submit to our publication, you have to follow our rules.

The temporary ban is as much for submitters as it is for us. We want to make sure that we are reviewing your submission with an open mind, and can’t do that if you are rapid firing “proof” that you can write something else.

If it is a flagrant violation or you argue with us or respond aggressively to a rejection for any reason, you will be permanently banned.

Likewise, even if your submissions to us are not problematic, but we are informed of problematic behavior outside of our publication against people from marginalized communities and can verify it, you will not be welcome to our publication and we reserve the right to remove your work from past issues

• The piece implicates you in a crime.
• The piece is partially or fully plagiarized. This includes work that is AI-generated (AI is plagiarism — it copies existing works from existing creatives without their permission.) or the majority/focus of the piece makes use of images that were not created by you (examples: photographs of murals — yes, you took the photograph, but the focus is on someone else’s mural; collages where the collage pieces have not been radically altered and are therefore someone else’s work).
• The piece uses fridging of marginalized people or children (the trope where a marginalized person is injured, killed, or demoralized in some way to move a privileged person’s story or character development forward).
• The piece reduces people from marginalized genders or races to body parts, objects, or in another way dehumanizes them.
• The piece’s main focus is sexual attraction or exploitation.
• The piece is erotica or is sexually explicit.
• The piece sexualizes a child. This means anyone under 18 years old, no matter what.
• The piece glorifies or sexualizes violence against marginalized genders.
• The piece mentions or implies molestation, sexual assault, or r*pe
  • There is NO wiggle room on this. Our editor is a survivor and will not subject themself to the pain of reading this.
  • Any violation of this guideline will result in an instant permanent ban from our publication. The trauma is too great and therapy is too expensive to deal with this.
• The piece includes content or slurs that could be considered racist, xenophobic, queerphobic, transphobic, sexist, misogynistic, fetishist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, ableist, audistic, or in any other way offensive to a protected class or minority. Your piece will be rejected unless it is made clear within the piece or in an artist statement at the end that the behavior/language is unacceptable, proper content warnings are provided, and the word is in some way censored in the piece (vowels replaced with * as an example we’ve accepted). While I understand that some people are reclaiming words that have been used to disparage people that share an identity, not all our readers from that identity will be reclaiming that word and we need to think of their well-being as well.