marching

When registering for the Women's March on Washington, it asked me why I was marching. I'm not sure if I am done with this yet but in honor of the march this weekend, here it is.

marching

I am marching 

to stand up and be counted. 

to not let those men

in the halls of influence

rest easy,

and sit back in comfortable armchairs

because we're coming for you.

feel the ground already shaking

the air already shimmering

with our shriek

Reminding them

that there are barbarians

at the gates.

Yes, Sheroes and rebels

and warriors. 

We tell the world

a history, a future

that we don't go down quietly or forgotten

and watch our dreams go quietly 

We did not loosen our grasp,

frozen, observing them

sinking below cold deep waters

burning the world, watching them

curl into ash and blow

across nothing but sooty plains.

--

I am marching 

to tell the ones with all those zeros

at the ends of their names

that 1 is still 1

that 1 + 1 is still 2.

one person, one family, 

one klan, one kind

or even just: one

and their sumptuousness

and their supremacy

and their sense of 'security'

are still just one

not worth more than one life

not worth any other.

In fact

I owe a debt to those trampled, 

and to those who are yet to be

thrown under the wheels.

With no justice 

there is no peace.

And we choose liberty over death.

And I choose liberty for them.

I'll carry any absent women

with me in my footsteps

as best I can

Because wherever two or three gather, 

there am I.

For better or for worse,

til death do us part

I am this land.

Powering Up with Intersectionality

Donald Trump has been a font of inspiration for feminist discourse ever since he first declared himself a candidate for president.  New misogyny seemed to pop up every week.  We thought the world had changed with "Pussygate" (see my previous post), but with his election last month, the floodgates opened.  One theme kept popping up in my feeds: Intersectionality and Intersectional Feminism.

What is Intersectionality?

First articulated in the late 1980s by black feminist scholar and race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality recognizes that multiple systems of oppression can interact to marginalize people. Rather than acting independently, systems based on class, sex, race, gender & sexuality, disability, nationality, religion, etc. interact to generate complex oppression experiences.  From this perspective, we can better understand a person or group's power/privilege within our society.  For example, an intersectional perspective highlights how a rich, able-bodied, heterosexual, christian, natural-born, white male citizen has the most power in our society.  A disabled, low-income, Muslim, immigrant, transgender woman of color, conversely, has very little power under the combined pressure of many systems of oppression operating in our society.

Powering Up

I had encountered bits of intersectional thinking before the election (the Guilty Feminist Podcast in particular, see my previous post), but it seemed to be everywhere post-election. Many white women were stunned that millions of other white women would vote by their class and/or race rather than by their sex/gender.  Many non-white feminists were not surprised at all and were incensed, calling "white feminists" out for their persistent ignorance when it comes to the interesectional experiences of women of color.  The resulting consciousness-raising was important, but emotions ran high and it was easy to feel defeated.  Fortunately, intersectional feminism has roots in social justice activism and points the way toward improved engagement.

We can think about oppression, but the flip side of oppression is power.  We "white feminists" often focus on our lack of power under patriarchy, and rightly so, but this focus misses the astounding power/privileged we often have under the other oppression systems.  I, for example, am a woman and an atheist, putting me at a disadvantage under the SEX and RELIGION systems operating in the US.  On the other hand, I benefit from power and privilege under the CLASS, RACE, GENDER & SEXUALITY, NATIONALITY, and DISABILITY systems.  I could choose to focus on my lack of power under the patriarchy (and this is important), but I shouldn't lose sight of just how much power I have and how I can use it to further social justice missions.

My attempt to visualize my intersectional power.

Many feminists have absorbed this lesson post-Trump.  I was particularly moved by Deborah Frances-White's call to action in Part 1 of the Guilty Feminist Podcast's Emergency Post-Trump Episode.  As we prepare for the Trump presidency, where does your power lie?  How can intersectionality power up your engagement and activism in the new year?  2017 promises to be an transfomative year.  Lets be ready!