The struggle against patriarchy and racism must be substantively robust and inextricably intertwined.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
I think that the same kind of openness and fluidity and willingness to interrogate power that we, as feminists, expect from men in alliance on questions of class should also be the expectation that women of colour can rely upon with our white feminist allies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Openness and willingness to question authority should be mutual between feminists and their allies.
In this quote, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw emphasizes the importance of mutual openness and engagement within feminist movements. She argues that just as feminists expect men to be receptive and critical of power structures related to class, women of color should have the same expectation of support and understanding from white feminist allies. This underscores the necessity for solidarity and accountability across different intersections of identity in the pursuit of equality and social justice.
Themes
OpennessFeminismAllianceIntersectionalityPower
In practice
Example use cases
During a women's empowerment workshop, to illustrate the importance of allyship, one can quote this to highlight the need for mutual understanding.
More from Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
All quotes →I have a wonderful, diverse, and young staff at the AAPF who pretty much work around the clock trying to figure out how we promote the idea that social justice requires us to be intersectional in our thinking and in our scope of vision.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
If you don't have a lens that's been trained to look at how various forms of discrimination come together, you're unlikely to develop a set of policies that will be as inclusive as they need to be.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
We have to move back to the idea that education isn't about teaching people to bow to rigid rules. That's not what democracy is about.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
Having a monolithic view of feminism is suffocating.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
We must begin to tell black women's stories because, without them, we cannot tell the story of black men, white men, white women, or anyone else in this country. The story of black women is critical because those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
Similar quotes
Not afraid of poverty and drabness and who is untouched by it, untouched by the drunkenness of her friends; (she) who judges, selects, discards people with severity, who knows, when she is telling her endless anecdotes, that they are ways of escape, keeping herself all the more secret behind that profuse talk.
Anais NinRead
He certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.
Jane AustenRead
You young men need to know that you can hardly achieve your highest potential without the influence of a good women, particularly you mother, and in a few years, a good wife.
Russell M. NelsonRead
Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm.
George R. R. MartinRead
Two separate beings, in different circumstances, face to face in freedom and seeking justification of their existence through one another, will always live an adventure full of risk and promise." (p. 248)
Simone De BeauvoirRead
Don't ever play with someone's feelings, you could win the game but you could lose that person forever.
Frank OceanRead