Action Alert | Who Is Doing The Heavy Lifting, Y’all?
Last week we asked you to explore how each of us can create meaningful change in a system that doesn’t even play by its own rules. You can read more in last week’s Action Alert on the two big questions we were pondering.
If we want transformative change, we have to be open to discomfort. That discomfort means we challenge ourselves in our own movements and communities to devise more creative solutions, tactics, and goals – because, as of now, the old ones aren’t working. One of these old tactics is welcoming marginalized people into dominant spaces. This can be in the form of inviting Black, Indigenous, and other people of color to historically or traditionally white spaces. It can show up as welcoming women into male-dominated spaces or disabled people into able-bodied spaces.
Individuals with marginalized identities need safe spaces, such as employee resource groups (ERGs), communal support groups, or designated spaces within conferences. Often these spaces are challenging for dominant groups or individuals with privileged identities to navigate as they may see themselves as unwanted or excluded. Sometimes those from dominant groups may not understand the value or need for these spaces to exist at all. Again, individuals with marginalized identities need safe spaces to gather, connect, download, and share. What we could do better is reimagine parameters for how we envision a space where both marginalized people and people with privileged identities can come together and learn on equal footing.
How can we get here? We must ask ourselves who is doing the heavy lifting right now to get us there. We are in a moment of extremes. On one end, individuals with marginalized identities end up doing most of the emotional labor and heavy lifting to teach privileged individuals how to “do better.” Conversely, privileged individuals often take charge and speak for marginalized people without consulting them on what they actually need. It’s a mess, y’all.
A happy medium is possible, right? That happy medium will only come with some reflection first.
Danny THEE Himbo (@Br00TaLDaN) shared these thought-provoking tweets asking white women to unpack why they did or didn’t come into the BIPOC lounge at #gencon (a tabletop gaming industry conference). Check out his tweets and the conversation that developed:
We love Danny THEE Himbo’s tweets because they’re not accusatory in nature. The tweets also don’t place the onus on BIPOC people in this instance to come up with the solutions. Kudos, Mr. Himbo!
Are you doing the necessary intersectional and emotional labor to build collaborative spaces and movements?
People with privilege often forget that dominant identities exist because work is needed to eliminate marginalization. We look to integrate or invite others in, but we fail to recognize the labor placed on marginalized people to penetrate those dominant spaces.
Once again, as we build spaces to support the growth and communal connection of oppressed communities, how do we balance the need for marginalized groups to gather in safe spaces with the need to create spaces where everyone has a stake in that space’s success? Meaning… how do we “do better” together and on more equitable terms?
For more ideas and meditations on how to look at and name the problem, we recommend that you go back and read our blog post asking if your feminism is intersectional.
Psst… Sharing is caring! If you enjoy our weekly love letter to gender equality, pass it on to a friend, colleague, organization, or event planner you know!
📣🚨 Individuals with marginalized identities need safe spaces, but we must also build collaborative and equitable shared spaces. How do we do this? Shoutout to Danny THEE Himbo for the inspirational and thought-provoking #gencon/#gencon2022 dialogue. #GenderAvenger