When we undermine someone’s life-altering issue by framing it as something that everyone deals with, we dismiss the magnitude of the societal problems that contextualize bigotry, we disrespect marginalized people’s ability to assess their own problems, we discourage the pursuit of solutions for widespread unearned suffering, and we sign off on allowing that suffering to continue.
Tag: race
The Complexion For The Protection: White Privilege in Media
As always, the beauty of guest posts on this blog is that they enable Yopp to include subjects and types of content that I could never hope to create myself. In order to shift the societal scrutiny off of people of color and onto white people for once, Dennis does what he does best: Biting critiques about the ways media represents and encourages our society’s racial disparities, as well as educating us on the often …Read More
Good People: Race, Not Racism, Is the Social Construct
Thanks to guest writer Thandiwe I have an excellent resource to point to anytime I run into someone claiming that racism is a social construct. She’s going to break it down for all of us.
White Privilege at Work in Social Activism
This week’s guest blogger, an accomplished writer and activist, Dennis R. Upkins, is here to tell us all about the manifestations of white privilege within the context of activism.
How Lizzo Helped Me Grow into “My Skin“
Clarity J is here to tell us just how much of an impact Lizzo and her music have had on her journey to wellness.
Yes, Black Girls Matter
This article is Clarity’s tribute to R. Kelly’s victims and to all the black women and girls who’ve had their lives devalued by society. We raise up her message: Black girls matter.
Open Me: How a Kid’s Kind Holiday Gesture Turned My World Upside Down
Clarity’s guest post today looks at how racism is so insidious, it creeps into situations and actions that a white person would never think twice about, and provokes a sense of life-consuming threat, regardless how kind or innocent the intention of the original gesture was.
What Is Socialization?
If you’ve been in the social justice world for very long, you’ve probably heard variations on the phrase, “You were socialized to be X.” But what does that mean? What is socialization?
Explaining Privilege Part 2: The Cycle of Reinforcement
In the second part of the Explaining Privilege series, I talk about how the socialization of marginalized and privileged groups reinforce the blindspots of privileged groups, which in turn causes a cycle that deprioritizes the needs of marginalized people.
Who Is Marginalized?
There are a number of traits for which people are oppressed, and these traits fall into a number of categories. To be involved in social justice work, you must first understand who is marginalized. This article breaks that down.