Holly Blake - Audacious Voices: Profiles in Intersectional Feminism

AUDACIOUS VOICES

Copyright 2018 by Melissa Ooten and Holly Blake

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please address She Writes Press.

Published November 13, 2018

Printed in the United States of America

Print ISBN: 978-1-63152-491-2

E-ISBN: 978-1-63152-492-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018947565

For information, address:

She Writes Press

1563 Solano Ave #546

Berkeley, CA 94707

Interior design by Tabitha Lahr

She Writes Press is a division of SparkPoint Studio, LLC.

Names and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the privacy of certain individuals.

I n the inaugural issue of Ms. Magazine in December of 1971, Jane OReilly wrote a description of a consciousness raising groupwomen sitting in a circle, sharing the stories of their lives, and realizing that they were linked by an invisible thread of misogony: they will recognize the click! of recognition, that parenthesis of truth around a little thing that completes the puzzle of reality in womens mindsthe moment that brings a gleam to our eyes and means the revolution has begun.

The click moment, as it has come to be known, was born.

I wasnt yet born when Jane wrote those fateful words. In fact, my mom could very well have been one of those women sitting on the living room rug of a friend, locating her outrage for the first time. She was an undergrad at Colorado State University at the time, part of the Civil Rights protests there and very much discovering her own ambitions beyond the prescribed gender scripts of the time. She didnt have any womens studies classes, but she found her professors in books. In 1983, when the Womens Review of Books was first published, she subscribed immediately. That and Ms. Magazine would show up consistently on our kitchen table as I was growing up. Feminism was in the water.

And yet, I still needed my own click moment to fully embrace my feminist identity. As an undergrad at Barnard College, I saw Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner speak andjust like Jane wroteclick! If they were feminists, then I wanted to be one, too. I devoured their book, Manifesta, while studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, and studying the fall of apartheid. I was just starting to put the intersectional pieces togetherhow sexism intertwined with racism intertwined with classism, etc. There is not, as it turns out, an invisible thread of misogony alone, but a tangled knot of so many forms of interpersonal and structural inequity.

But heres the thing about consciousness. It doesnt actually work like a light switch. Once you turn it on, you cant turn it back off. And turning it on is just the first tiny step, however significant it might feel. The ways in which your consciousness continues to evolve and how you actually apply what you realize in the beautiful, horrible worldthats the really juicy story.

As it turns out, thats the story sitting in your hot little hands. Or more accurately, the stories. Twelve people, whose click moments largely took place in the context of one remarkable program, and the struggle and triumph that came after.

Its such a special book for a couple of reasons. First of all, while those of us who have been lucky enough to take women, gender, and sexuality studies (WGSS) classes, or have amazing feminists teach classes outside of WGSS departments but with the same principles, knowbeing (re)educated in this way is a huge personal and political gift. WGSS classrooms are where some of the most radical, interesting work in consciousness raising is happening today. Sure, a lot of that is also happening online and through TED talks and Janelle Mone videos and between friends and in the pages of great contemporary feminist thinkers. But there is still nothing that replaces a group of people sitting around a table, hashing out the injustices and opportunities for healing in the world, and in our lives, with a great teacher. This book names that and makes it come to life. For those who teach, it will be a great inspiration for how to produce more, and more durable, click moments.

But the other reason this book is so special is that it doesnt leave the click in the classroom. It follows these amazing humans as they try to apply what theyve learned long after theyve walked across the graduation stage. How do we actually use our own shifts in consciousness to change work-places, policies, even our own families? How do we maintain our sense of solidarity when our fellow students arent sitting beside us? How do we weather the inevitable failure of intersectional activism in an unfinished revolution?

These are questions each person has to live into for themselves, but these twelve authors are great models for asking courageously. Readers will gain strength from them, appreciate their humility, and get ideas about how to actually shift power. They will know that they are not alone in their own journey of translating what happens inside of their heads and hearts to everyday action that can change communities and nations.

The point is not the click; its the long tail of consciousness and what we do with it. Just as the point is not to land on an answer, some perfect way of translating feminism into the world, but to keep asking and pursuing the questions. This is our responsibility and gift, as these twelve authors point out so eloquently and variably. The gleam is still alight. The revolution continues.

T he impetus for this book emerged from our deeply held belief that a critical feminist education that combines theoretical knowledge with practical application can transform lives. The WILL* program fully embodies this type of education, and we both feel extremely grateful to have made administering the program our professional work for many years now. The holistic nature of WILL* allows us to engage in meaningful ways with a wide range of thoughtful, passionate students who truly care about the world, their place in it, and how to make it a better, more equitable place for everyone to live. The best feminist work is collaborative, and the WILL* program would not be the success it is without the guidance and knowledge our students bring to it, and to us, day in and day out.

We have many people to thank for both participating in and supporting the work of the WILL* program. One of the strengths of the program is its vibrancy; its never static. It not only changes as the academic field of women, gender, and sexuality studies (WGSS) changes, but it also evolves in response to student ideas and initiatives. Therefore, first and foremost, we want to thank all of the students and graduates of the program. Without their passion for this work, the program would not have flourished and been the success that it is. We are deeply indebted to every one of our current and former students for their engagement and manifold contributions to the program, which will celebrate its fortieth anniversary in 2020.

We next want to thank the many alums who participated in the lengthy process of bookmaking with us. We began by interviewing twenty-four people and had to painstakingly narrow that group to the twelve who we worked with to create the final project. Our deepest gratitude and thanks go to these alums for their patience and commitment to the project over the years. For taking the time to be interviewed and helping us build a strong foundation for this project, we would like to thank: