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The Worlds of Ntozake ShangeAND DIGITAL STORYTELLING

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the meaning of legacy

by Elizabeth 0 Comments

“Ultimately, as all people of progressive politic do, we wrote this book for you- the next generation, and the next one. Your lives are so vast before you- you whom the popular culture has impassively termed “Millennials.” But I think the women of Bridge would’ve simply called you, “familia” – our progeny, entrusting you with the legacy of our thoughts and activism, in order to grow them into a flourishing planet and a just world.”

– Cherríe Moraga

my grandmothers in august 2017. this was taken after my senior speech.

The past few months, I have been thinking a lot about my own history and how this has informed who, what, and where I am today. Some of this has taken a very literal sense, such as trying to uncover the names of my enslaved ancestors. In a more abstract sense, I’ve also been trying to understand more of the histories of people who may not be related to me by blood, but are connected to me through culture, tradition, and spirit.

 

 

While reading the new introduction to This Bridge Called My Back, I almost laughed at Moraga’s excerpt she included from a letter she wrote to Barbara Smith. In it, she talks about how uncomfortable her own experience was listening to Shange present her work, and how it caused Moraga to realize that in her “development as a poet, [she has], in many ways, denied the voice of [her] brown mother” (26). Neither this, nor the conversation about her physical discomfort was necessarily funny to me, but it seemed ridiculously ironic that this is not only what I was feeling at the beginningof the semester when reading Shange, but it is also how I felt going to Moraga’s talk at Barnard a few months ago.

This to me only emphasizes the solidarity and commonality that Moraga, Shange, and the other folks that contributed to Bridge write about. Our struggles, love, and consciousness can come from different places and times, but are ultimately united. Those Shange learned from brought her to influence Moraga, who both influence me. I will never actually know them, just like I will never know those in my personal history that have influenced me too. Now, I believe that literally knowing them is not what constitutes our relationship, but it is hearing their stories, remembering their legacies, and carrying their work forward to grow the “flourishing planet and just world.”

The power of women of color feminism in inter- & transnational feminist theory

by Charista 0 Comments

On page 25 of Beins and Enzsner’s of “Inter- and Transnational Feminist Theory and Practice in Triple Jeopardy and Conditions” they channel Chandra Mohanty’s thought processes. They write, “internationalism is also associated with naïve and counterproductive objectives of global sisterhood in which some universal commonality (usually oppression by the patriarchy) is presumed to unite women throughout the world.” I think it is important that they noted how transnationalism recognizes how people across the world may share common oppressions, such as the exploitation of their labor or domestic violence, without presuming that the manifestation of these oppressions is the same.

I am reminded of the notion of intersectional feminism and how it closely investigates the overlapping systems of discrimination and sexism that women face based on factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Intersectionality is crucial in order to understand how multiple oppressions interact to transform people’s lives and identities. With this being said, I feel that it’s important to note that women of color feminism and queer of color critique emerged out of the contradictions of racialized communities, which instead of being monolithic or united, is rather always already differentiated.

Just like Audre Lorde said in “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” one must recognize the fact that difference must be reconceptualized from a problem (something to fear, avoid or suppress) into a “springboard for creative change” (115). Women of color feminism and queer of color critique offer methodologies for understanding racialized communities as always constituted by a variety of racial, gendered, sexualized, and national differences. These intellectual traditions highlight the importance of an analysis that centers the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, and class, and thereby establishes a methodology for understanding coalition as emerging out of this difference. In conclusion, Beins and Enzsner’s discussion about transnationalism, along with women of color feminism and queer of color critique, is crucial for exploring and studying oppressions of various groups of individuals.

My beautiful mother who always encouraged me from a young age to embrace my unique identity and helped me get through bullying, harassment, and discrimination because of my mixed identity.

My mother, an immigrant who arrived to the US from the other side of the world with her sisters, is also a proud feminist and worked hard her entire life so I could attend Barnard to receive a wonderful education surrounded by intelligent women. I am so grateful to her for raising me the way she did.