CRITICAL RACE FEMINIST PRAXIS: BUILDING A TABLE THAT FITS FOR WOMXN OF COLOUR Presenters: Lorraine D. Acker, Ph.D, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Bennett College Natasha Croom, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Clemson University Aja C. Holmes, Ph.D., Senior Associate Director for Residential Life, California State University- Sacramento

WHO WE ARE *Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Faculty, Administrators Founders: Lorraine D. Acker, Ph.D. Glennda Bivens, Ph.D. Natasha N. Croom, Ph. D. Katrina Harden-Williams Aja C. Holmes, Ph.D. Joyce Lui, Ph.D. Anicia Peters, Ph.D. Angelica Renia, Ph.D. Lissa Stapleton, Ph.D. Campus Partners Margaret Sloss Women’s Center School of Education, Iowa State University Multicultural Student Affairs Introduction of Topic (15 mins) Why the need for this space History of the Womyn of Colour Network CRT and CRF as the foundation for creating womxn of colour network

WHAT WE DID? FRAMEWORK (Critical) Feminist Epistemologies Womanist, Black Feminist Thought, and other gendered/raced perspectives Dialogue as central to knowledge construction Critical Race Theory – Critical Race Feminism Black White Binary Lived Experience Intersectionality

WHAT WE DID? GETTING TO THE TABLE The Journey Working from a place of pain…impacts everything that comes after How one gets to the table MATTERS Naming and Defining “If I didn’t’ define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive” – Audre Lourde Who we are, were, are becoming What you not gon’ do…External and Internal (WOCN) Tensions Cultural, ethnic, and racial differences within group – (1) outsiders-within group, (2) all black everything

FEELS - LOOKS - SOUNDS APPROACHES TO PRAXIS How are womxn of color engaged on your campus? In the field of Student Affairs, what can critical race feminist praxis look like, feels like, and sound like on your campus? What does praxis look like, feel like and sound like on your campus? What does disrupting the black-white binary look like, feels like, and sounds like? ACTIVITY PRAXIS (LOOKS LIKE, FEELS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE) Divide participants in 4 groups. Have groups work together to respond to the questions below Participants will be asked to write responses on large post-it paper Each group will report on questions, noting similarities and differences. Activity Questions: How are womxn of color engaged on your campus? In the field of student affairs in higher education, what can critical race feminist praxis look like, feels, like, sounds, like? What does praxis look like, feels, like, sounds like on your campus? What does disrupting the black-white binary look like, feels like, sounds, like? Participant Experiences (10 min) REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION ACTIVITY- Participants will reflect on what praxis is for them and discuss the kinds of praxis are they engaged in on their campuses. Disrupting the black – white binary If you’re not black…(you might be the one Latina or the one Asian-American) – how did we get here?? Being complicit in that stuff: From “why don’t they care about these issues as much as we do” to “what is it about a predominately black and female space that signals that other WOC aren’t welcome/invited?” Attending to intersectionality Race, Gender, AND … (oh, yeah) Praxis: Acting towards equity, justice, and voice What can critical race feminist praxis look like? Praxis as a filter – iterative process of (re)construction, self-reflection (a crucial part of process), critique, action Intentionality throughout process of moving toward social change/justice In what ways do creating counterspaces reinforce the racial and gender hegemony and the status quo? FEELS - LOOKS - SOUNDS

WHAT QUESTIONS CAN WE ANSWER?