“So Woke”: Navigating Activism, Identity, & Positionality
Mar 30, 2017 4:22:33 GMT -5
Post by roseinbloom on Mar 30, 2017 4:22:33 GMT -5
I’m worried that people won’t come in here and talk about this because of the thread starter: me. I have been accused of presenting myself as superior and snide, of missing the compassionate and sensitive mark, and I am pretty sure that most people read me as being super judgmental and high-handed.
That being said, I think this is an important discussion to have and an important space to cultivate. I hope by assuring people that although I am the OP…and someone admittedly with a hot-headed deep and burning interest in this subject matter…I promise that I am not starting this thread to lord over it as an advisor, arbiter of judgment, or as a place to affirm my superiority and stroke my ego. As I have just pointed out, I am aware of some of my failures as an activist, and I will surely be continually confronted with others. And I have to be, given that my career field is one where I have to constantly face the inalienable fact that my phenotype and heritage is one linked with traumas of colonialism. (And if it is any reassurance, I’m in a period where I have to devote a lot more attention to this work and am unlikely to be a constant presence anyway).
Okay, so what kind of space and discussion am I actually trying to demarcate with this thread?
I hope this is a place where we can talk about how we engage as activists. Through personal stories or working through anecdotal problems, it would be great to address topics such as:
When are we silent? Why are we silent? What does this mean for others and for us?
How does our skin type, dress or material goods, grammar/vocabulary/accent, or other indicators of social status and identity affect our activism?
What are our “frailties”? How do we think about these in terms of self-care or in terms of how we go about addressing other people and taking their frailties into account?
How does audience play a role in activism?
What “privileges” do you have? How can you leverage these in positive ways?
Does guilt or shame (inherited, cultural, or neither) motivate you? When is it used as a powerful force, and when does it impede your ability to act?
At what point does solidarity trespass into the realm of appropriation?
How are you being affected by criticism? Is there anything painful you want help working through?
Thank you for coming in here. All best.
That being said, I think this is an important discussion to have and an important space to cultivate. I hope by assuring people that although I am the OP…and someone admittedly with a hot-headed deep and burning interest in this subject matter…I promise that I am not starting this thread to lord over it as an advisor, arbiter of judgment, or as a place to affirm my superiority and stroke my ego. As I have just pointed out, I am aware of some of my failures as an activist, and I will surely be continually confronted with others. And I have to be, given that my career field is one where I have to constantly face the inalienable fact that my phenotype and heritage is one linked with traumas of colonialism. (And if it is any reassurance, I’m in a period where I have to devote a lot more attention to this work and am unlikely to be a constant presence anyway).
Okay, so what kind of space and discussion am I actually trying to demarcate with this thread?
I hope this is a place where we can talk about how we engage as activists. Through personal stories or working through anecdotal problems, it would be great to address topics such as:
When are we silent? Why are we silent? What does this mean for others and for us?
How does our skin type, dress or material goods, grammar/vocabulary/accent, or other indicators of social status and identity affect our activism?
What are our “frailties”? How do we think about these in terms of self-care or in terms of how we go about addressing other people and taking their frailties into account?
How does audience play a role in activism?
What “privileges” do you have? How can you leverage these in positive ways?
Does guilt or shame (inherited, cultural, or neither) motivate you? When is it used as a powerful force, and when does it impede your ability to act?
At what point does solidarity trespass into the realm of appropriation?
How are you being affected by criticism? Is there anything painful you want help working through?
Thank you for coming in here. All best.