#SAYHERNAME (the urgency of intersectionality)
The exercise Kimberle Crenshaw begins her TEDtalk with was moving to see. Watching so many sit down as she moved on to name women who had been killed by police in the last few years was eye opening. I like many in the video knew of the first 5 or 6 names. I was only able to recognize 2 female names before I would have had to also sit down. It was such an eye opening moment for me to see and hear her explain how when facts do not fit with the available frames, people have a hard time incorporating new facts into their way of thinking about a problem. Therefore, these women's' names have slip through our consciousness because there are no frames. Resulting consequently with media not leading with them and politicians not talking about them.
"Without frames that allow us to see how social problems impact all the members of a targeted group, many will be let to suffer in virtual silence." -This notion is what gave rise to her creation of the term intersectionality.
I love the visual she uses when describing interesectionality and Emma's dilemma. She is standing at the intersection of where the road of gender and the road of race overlap. I think this is a great visual to help others understand what is meant by interestionality. It can be hard to teach other adults never mind children what it means and I think incorporating visuals and short clips like the one we had viewed before and the Teaching Tolerance article included is helpful.
As Kimberele talked and began showing pictures of the many black women young and old who were killed by police, I was truly taken back. I thought how have I never even heard of some of these women and WHY haven't I? It is because like she had said earlier, when it doesn't fit the frame as these cases don't, the media doesn't lead with it. We have heard about Tamir Rice and Eric Garner. Why? because they are black men and that fits a frame, but black women killed by police officers doesn't.
As the names scrolled endless towards the end of the video I felt disappointed. Disappointed in myself that I didn't know about any of these instances of brutality disappointed that others like the media were not talking about these women. It showed me that I need to do more.
We need to do more. #sayhername
Hi Danielle, I loved reading your reflection. I must say that I shared similar feelings about not knowing about majority of those women stories. After watching that video, I felt a great deal of heartache and displeasure. This just tells me that I need to become more aware of the social issues that affect my own community. This topic resonated with me so much and really hit home because I'm a woman of color raising two daughters. I'm just saddened by the fact that the media falls short when it comes to shedding light on certain topics when race and gender is involved.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughtful post Danielle. I wonder if/how the phenomenon that Crenshaw describes--the lack of media attention/ social outrage for the murders of black women by police takes shape in our classrooms. What don't we see about our own students--girls of color and others--because it doesn't "fit the frame"?
ReplyDeleteDanielle I experienced the same as you when watching that video. I too had not heard of those women's names and I was very much embarrassed by that fact. Why does media choose not to cover these stories, but chooses to cover those of black men? They are both equally important, but as Crenshaw says and you said they don't fit the frame. Also, I am also a big believer in visuals. The road map is a great source to teach intersectionality and help others that don't have to deal with it on a daily basis understand it. I for one have a better understanding thanks to that visual.
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