Week 8: Sitting at the Intersections
Intersectionality is something that I spend extensive time thinking about and surely not enough time thinking about. I was feeling overwhelmed in communicating my thoughts and feelings on this topic, so I searched for some images to do that work for me this week. Below is one from Everyone Belongs: A Toolkit for Applying Intersectionality. I do not love the title of this "toolkit" nor some of the activities included in the volume, but I found this image to be a helpful one in summarizing the complicated nature of intersectionality in a clean and simple graphic.
Innermost circle: a person’s unique circumstances
Second circle: aspects of identity
Third circle: types of discrimination/isms/attitudes that impact identity
Outermost circle: institutions, systems, and structures that work together to reinforce oppression
During my extensive search for useful images, I also stumbled upon this website, which makes an argument for why the animal rights movement and other forms of social justice work are intimately connected. I honestly have never been particularly interested in or felt connected to the animal rights movement, but the resources on this site really make a convincing and intersectional argument that shows the deep overlap in this work. The cartoons about Bob the striped triangle on the website seem silly and like they are trivializing identity at first glance, but they are actually quite useful, especially for explaining intersectionality to younger children.
The interconnectedness of movements and the idea that we must work for total liberation from all forms of oppression is something that I have been sitting with recently. This piece of Audre Lorde’s poem, “Who Said It Was Simple” speaks to the tension of "choosing" a piece of yourself for which to fight:
“But I who am bound by my mirror
as well as my bed
see causes in colour
as well as sex
and sit here wondering
which me will survive
all these liberations.”
We cannot have movements for liberation where only part of us survives. We cannot be choosing "which me" to let live. We must built spaces and create a future where we can be liberated as the whole, complex people that we are.
References
Kimberle Crenshaw, The Urgency of Intersectionality--a 19-minute TED Talk
Bell, Monita K. (2016). Teaching at the Intersections, Teaching Tolerance.
Exploring identity and intersectionality in poetry (2015) PBS News Hour.
Thanks for your post and for sharing these great resources. I really appreciate the first diagram for bridging the personal/ individual experience of intersectional identity with entrenched, long-standing social policies and dynamics. Sometimes the notion of intersectionality can get watered down to "we're all different and unique." I am also thinking about your comments about ELK--the links between the animal rights movement and other social justice movements. I have been thinking about these links too through Sunaura Taylor's work and also reflecting on my lack of interest/ connection to animal rights movements. It makes me think about a kind of social intersectionality--the way oppressions and struggles are linked and how as activists we can recognize and uphold these links even as we coalesce around particular issues and systems.
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