May white feminism stay and die in 2017. They have really outdone themselves. My newsfeed curation is constantly being managed by my trigger-happy fingers that have turned ‘unfollow’ into a reflex reaction. Yet, I can be laughing uproariously at some delicious black comedy and I know on the horizon Becky Conquistador waits in her boat...
Tag: intersectionality
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Intersectionality Proves A New Path to Victory for the Democrats
Democrats are rejecting the idea that the party must disproportionately yield to the whims of the white working class. In what was largely considered a referendum on the Trump presidency, Tuesday’s election swept a robust cohort of liberal and diverse elect officials into office. In Topeka, Kansas, Michelle De La Isla, a Hispanic woman, won...
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How Callout Culture Can Become Toxic
Callouts can be used to bring attention to important issues, but with any callout there needs to be context. By Mari Ramsawakh If you’re an activist or online often enough, you’re familiar with callout culture. You’ve probably called someone out yourself— in and of itself, a callout isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes when someone says...
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Intersectionality Ain’t For White Women
The claim that “intersectionality” should be used universally to speak for everyone’s experiences is simply an extension of the anti-Black violence we already experience. Remember that 2007 movie, Freedom Writers? In the film, Hilary Swank plays well-to-do naive teacher Erin Gruwell, who goes to teach 10th graders at Woodrow Wilson High School. In a scene...
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The Women’s March Joins Forces with Black Lives Matter
If the women’s movement is to make any kind of meaningful progress, it must first make Black lives matter. On Jan. 21 2017, the Women’s March on Washington led what many now believe was the largest single-day demonstration in recorded U.S. history. Organized by experienced women of color activists and organizers (Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory, and Carmen Perez),...
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Let’s Hope The Reboot Of ‘The L Word’ Does A Better Job Of Portraying Black Women
As articles praising the return of “The L Word” saturate my Twitter timeline, I question how the show will frame the intersectional issues women of color face in the LGBTQ community. By Leslie Whitmire “The L Word” first aired during my sophomore year of high school–the same year I came out to my family and...
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#AskCam: Navigating Communication and Casual Consent
Welcome to #AskCam, a column where sex and intersectionality are not divided but welcomed together. Dear Cam, How exactly do I address consent in casual relationship settings? If I’m in a longer-standing relationship, I’m not embarrassed or ashamed to talk about literally any topic….but if I go on one date with someone and I’m...
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How Sexuality Is Crucial For Intersectionality: An Introduction
Ask Cam is not going to be a sexuality column that you’re used to – it is a space where sex and intersectionality are not divided but welcomed together. As intersectionality becomes more of a buzzword and an opportunity for mainstream (*ahem* white feminism) to co-opt Black-specific labor, I can’t help but see similarities between social...
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Working with White Women is the Bane of My Existence
White women’s racism will cut you in the dark and then ask you why you’re bleeding. By Rachael Edwards It was the thick of Black History Month and I worked as an art administrator for a program in Baltimore City. The site I was assigned to was managed by a white woman who cloaked her...
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Remembering Sojourner Truth, The Mother of Intersectional Feminism
Ain’t I a woman? On this day in 1851, at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, Sojourner Truth delivered a speech which essentially solidified the basis of intersectionality with her groundbreaking address known as, “Ain’t I a woman?” Born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree, Truth escaped and became an advocate for the abolitionist movement...