STANDING STILL: INTERSECTIONAL WORK AS SOCIAL JUSTICE JESSICA JENNRICH, DIRECTOR, WOMEN’S CENTER MARLENE KOWALSKI-BRAUN ASSISTANT VICE PROVOST FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY

LEARNING OUTCOMES Expand frameworks for thinking about this workArticulate an intersectional paradigmDiscuss how to engage in coalition workExplore risks and benefitsSlow down: Apply what we have learned

FRAMEWORKS FOR OUR TIME TOGETHER Acknowledge alternative positionalities Share honestly (what we share here stays here) Generosity matters Question or comment – say so!

U.S. colleges historically served economically privileged, White, young men 1960’S and 70’s  Shifts in student representation and student activism required campuses to implement a broad range  of initiatives  Leads to the creation of Black Cultural Centers, Minority Student Services, Women’s Centers  Students have largely been the leaders for change Institutional norms and policies on campus have not changed in wholesale; the academy still reflects the nation’s bigotry and oppression HISTORICAL CONTEXT Source: Multicultural Student Services on Campus, Edited by Dafina Lazarus Stewart

EXPANDING OUR FRAMEWORKS: IDENTITY, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND INTERSECTIONALITY Identity Social Justice Intersectional

Feminist Conceptualizations of Intersectionality Grew out of Black feminist scholarship Sojourner Truth, “Aint’ I a Woman?”, 1851 Combahee River Collective Statement, 1977 Patricia Hill Collins, 1990 Kimberly Crenshaw, 1994 Gloria Anzaldua, 1999

Feminist Conceptualizations (Cont.) Audre Lorde: “There is No Hierarchy of Oppression” “As a Black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, poet, mother of two including a boy and a member of an interracial couple, I usually find myself a part of some group in which the majority defines me as deviant, difficult, inferior, or just plain ‘wrong’” “Within the lesbian community I am Black, and within the Black community I am a lesbian. Any attack against Black people is a lesbian and gay issue, because I and thousands of other Black women are a part of the lesbian community. Any attack against lesbians and gays is a Black issue, because thousands of lesbians and gay men are Black. There is no hierarchy of oppression.”

APPLYING INTERSECTIONALITY Network Intertwined communities of action. Often determined according to structure and historical factors. Will persist long after people leave. Good networks have good coalition building. Coalition Often temporary or transient in terms of members. Characterized by a group of individuals coming together for a couple of hours at a time or for a common goal(s). Coalitions are the building blocks for strong networks. Alliance Collaborative partnership among networks with advanced loyalty expectations. This requires a widening of perspectives – of ALL of us! Aspire to be this – goal of coalition and networks.

PRACTICE IN AN INTERSECTIONAL PARADIGM Engage in radical thinking by rejecting additive approaches to oppression that essentialize identity. Advocate in a more complex, system-based way. Focus on root causes of problems rather than on surface level issues.

What are the benefits/challenges to doing intersectional work....

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