Thoughts on the Women's March

When I initially decided to go to the women’s march on Washington, I planned to document the women of color and black women who decided to attend. I didn’t feel any special inclination to go and champion for women’s rights, not because I don’t think they are important, but because I know typically when someone says women’s rights they aren’t talking about my rights as an African-American woman.

Like many of my fellow sisters who refrained from attending in order to save themselves from feigning solidarity with women who don’t hold each other accountable and refuse to acknowledge the unique issues facing women of color, I too had reservations about the intent behind the march. Even though I heard the organizers of the march reached out to Linda Sarsour, Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez to help the march be more inclusive, my skepticism remained staunch. Because not a mere three months prior to the march, in true suffragette fashion white women gleefully tagged Susan B. Anthony’s tombstone but forgot to do the same for Sojourner Truth or Fannie Lou Hamer. To pay homage to these activists, many black women on social media called for people to recognize and regard the black women who dedicated their lives to civil rights for all in the same manner in which white feminists are. Instead of being understanding, many white women called black women out for creating a “divisive” environment within the feminist movement by pointing out racial inequalities...

Which led me to question, “Who is really at fault for bringing a divisive environment to feminism?”

In the name of progress, is it better to be told to march behind white women—like Susan B Anthony told Ida B. Wells and black women to do during the National American Women Suffrage Association’s march in Washington D.C in 1913—or is it better for your activist contributions to be ignored?

I’d say neither.

Historically, the suffragette movement has always been divisive as evidenced by the treatment many black women received from white women who claimed they were feminists, but continued to believe in and uphold the tenants of white supremacy, racist institutions, Jim Crow segregation and perceived white superiority. Susan B Anthony said herself she would rather “cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman,” conveniently forgetting the existence of Negro women. She was very intentional in her de-emphasis of civil rights for black people in America because she valued the participation of southern white women deeply entrenched in the slave economy and Jim Crow society of southern states more than the equal rights of all women. Can we still uphold this woman as the trailblazer of feminism when in actuality, to her very core, she was not an advocate for the advancement of all women?

Can we taste the irony yet?

I’m sure my last two questions will ruffle some feathers, but it’s time for us to keep it real about what is truthfully going on. Unfortunately, Americans have a nasty habit of slapping Band Aids on open gushing wounds. We ignore problems and avoid uncomfortable conversations in the name of being politically correct, or progressive or whatever liberal terminology you prefer to use. But deep down, we really haven’t resolved issues stemming back to 1492, and continue to wonder why there’s so much animosity between marginalized groups of people and the dominant race in this country.

Women of color are not bringing divisiveness to the feminist movement by pointing out systemic, economic and racial disparities affecting their communities; White women bring divisiveness to the feminist movement by ignoring the systemic, economic and racial disparities affecting women of color and attempting to silence them when they point them out.  

I can’t emphasize this next statement enough, and if you haven’t heard it before, let me be the first to say: when women of color are pointing out inequalities they face, it is not an indictment of all white women, it is an indictment against an unfair system that white women so happen to benefit from. It only becomes an indictment against white women when they outright refuse to acknowledge disparities between different races of women even exist or choose to ignore these disparities and remain complacent and silent as long as the disparities don’t affect them. Which is why women of color continuously bring attention to the fact that 53 percent of white women voted for Trump.

Of course it was extremely refreshing to see the slew of white men and women who touted around Black Lives Matter, Acknowledge White Privilege, and Your Silence Won’t Save You posters at the march. The sight encouraged a tinge of hope in me for solidarity. Of course most of us can agree that the white women attending the march were probably a part of the 47 percent of white women who did vote for Hillary (or third party candidate). But guess what? That 47 percent, knows that other 53 percent. The 53 percent who voted for Trump are that 47 percent’s friends, their coworkers, their sisters, their mothers, their daughters, their neighbors, their husband’s coworkers’ wives...it is time for white women to organize within their own communities.

The same way black women and women of color have organized within their own communities for decades fighting against violence, poverty, systemic racism, police brutality, immigrant deportation, Islamophobia, underfunded public schooling, food deserts, racial profiling, stop and frisk, gerrymandering, prison industrial complex, gentrification and environmental discrimination, white women need to organize and fight the seedy underbelly of racism, sexism, and the western hegemonic patriarchy thriving in their well-manicured backyards. Just be aware that while some women are hacking away at that glass ceiling, there are women still drilling through underground tunnels, fighting just to get a breath of fresh air. Literally fighting for their lives and the lives of their families. Acknowledge the privilege of being able to look through the glass ceiling and see the sky.

Issues of inclusivity within the feminist movement even extend beyond racial lines. If this new age of feminism wants to truly benefit women—and that means all women—participants in the movement need to make a conscious effort to create safe spaces for women of color, women in poverty, women who practice religions other than Christianity and Judaism, working class women, transgender women, femmes, immigrant women, and refugee women. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been more pushback against the need for safe spaces from any other group of women more than those who benefit from immense privilege. Anyone, regardless of race, can have some sort of privilege, whether it be class/economic privilege, educational privilege, and assimilation privilege, which is the ability of some minorities to easily assimilate over others because of skin tone and/or hair texture, advantageous marriage, profession, country of origin, etc.

A perfect example of this was when Salma Hayek shut down Jessica Williams at a celebration for women filmmakers in Hollywood. The conversation quickly turned uncomfortable after the women at the table were asked about their feelings on Trump.  Hayek chimed in and challenged women to not fall into the trap of victimhood, but embrace their core identity and be confident in it. Williams provided an alternative perspective, asking Hayek directly, what about those women who are unable to shed the negative assumptions about their identities because no matter how confident they are, perception is reality. I’m sure everyone remembers the incident in Switzerland where the saleswoman at a high-end store refused to show Oprah a handbag because she assumed she couldn’t afford it. No matter how many times Oprah tells herself she is Oprah and is confident of who she is, that woman’s perception of her became a reality. Hayek completely dismissed this perspective, because she personally could not relate, and continued to over speak Williams with stories of her own experiences with sexism and prejudice. Of course her experiences as a non-black person of color married to a billionaire are valid, but they are not all encompassing.

These distinctions of privilege may seem trivial and arduous to acknowledge, but understanding them helps all women understand the difficult obstacles women of all backgrounds face. Thus, being aware of all levels of privilege and cognizant of racial, economic, religious and class disparities makes the feminist movement more inclusive. This will be a learning process for everyone and the feminist movement has some growing pains to endure, but if the true goal of feminism is the advancement and equality of all women, uncomfortable conversations about the true origins of divisiveness within the movement need to be addressed and eradicated and new voices and perspectives need to be accepted and acknowledged.