Williams Crenshaw Intersectionality

On July 18th, my presentation on Dr. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw’s “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color” further opened my eyes on the similarities of hierarchical power that we all face in an oppressive capitalist society. Moreover, facilitating discussion, helped me grasp the meaning of intersectionality as well as making a connection to Dr. Andrea Smith’s “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy.”
Because of the text’s content (interlocking oppressions prompt violence against women of color), I decided not to devote my presentation on what happened in the reading entirely, but rather defining intersectionality. I also used my exercise with the threads to display in a creative way how intersectionality can be applied to everyone in the class. The exercise demonstrated how intricately intertwine our identities are in society, but moreover, how we all share a common struggle/privilege. In doing so, I believe the atmosphere in class positively shifted because I diverted the focus towards unity (just for one second we all put our differences aside and came together).
Dr. Smith’s “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy,” connected with my second discussion question: How does your

positionality (one’s position of power in regards to your social categorization within a system of relationships) affect your intersecting identities? At the beginning of the article, Smith stated that “people of color joined the military to leave their impoverished neighborhoods. In doing so, we become complicit in oppressing and colonizing communities from other countries” (67). In other words, when people of color join the military they exercised the same oppressive behavior that they experience in the United States into other countries. As a result, their positionality is negatively affected because no matter how much they try to escape their oppressive environments they seem to return to what they are most comfortable with: oppression. On the other hand, my classmate Kiara’s experience relates to Smith’s reference to the lack of unity within the community of color (66-68). In class, my African American and Puerto Rican peer Kiara discussed her difficult journey of pursuing a college education due to an unsupportive environment. Fortunately, she ignored the negativity surrounding her and began her summer program at Syracuse University. Consequently, Kiara’s positionality was positively affected because she did not allow outside forces to prevent her from becoming educated. Smith’s and Kiara’s examples exemplified Karen’s statement, “that an individual’s mental state can change the oppression that they are facing” (Women and Gender Studies 101). In other words, you can change your circumstances, if you are willing to see that the solution lies within you.
Facilitating discussion on Dr.

Williams Crenshaw’s “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color” aided me in understanding the importance of intersectionality. Intersectionality is a framework that is critical in helping us position ourselves to others and not individually. While in “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy,” Dr. Smith begins her paper by discussing the division that lies within the community of color. My presentation on Dr. Williams Crenshaw’s article and Dr. Smith’s arguments reminded me that there is no greater power against an oppressive system than a conglomeration of people working together to fight

it.