“I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work for or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman.”- Susan B. Anthony, famous leader of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.Â
Throughout history, women have been oppressed. Every single day, we are subject to mistreatment, discrimination and even danger just because of our gender. In the mid-1800s, women like Susan B. Anthony were tired of not having basic rights such as voting. They rallied and fought for equality- equality for only White women. Although their work was monumental in shedding light on inequality, it is frustrating how women of color are ignored and pushed aside over and over and over again.Â
The other day, I was reading a textbook chapter about the first woman to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ellen Swallow Richards. If I am being honest, the whole chapter came across as tone deaf. It went on and on about how Richards was looked down upon and had to work twice as hard because she was a woman. What the textbook didn’t really mention, however, was that the year Richards went to college, slavery had only been abolished for 6 years.Â
How am I supposed to feel bad that Richard’s didn’t get proper credit for her work when African American women her age had quite literally been enslaved? While she was off in one of the top colleges in the country, getting an education and complaining that men were rude, African American women likely did not even know how to read or write. That textbook chapter, like American history, doesn’t give women of color any thought. Their stories aren’t told.Â
The injustice of it all is maddening.Â
Just like feminism, the LGBTQ liberation movement historically left women of color out of the picture. Although trans women of color are the backbone of the movement, they are often not talked about, sexualized, made fun of (I will never understand why Marsha P. Johnson was made into a joke on TikTok), forgotten and their efforts are used to propel White folks.Â
Intersectionality is critical to understand when looking at activism. You can not call yourself a feminist and a “girl’s girl” if you actively avoid interacting with anyone different from you. (You would be surprised how often White women ignore me. I promise I don’t bite?)Â
If you want to be an activist against injustice, if you want to make a change in the problems you see- take a look around and see if the ONLY people you’re advocating for look like you. If they do- maybe you should branch out. People who don’t look like you would also love your help.Â
American history is soiled with discrimination, hate and bloodshed. The sooner we all realize that you can be discriminated against and also privileged, the sooner people will become activists for their neighbors and communities and not only themselves.Â
Just imagine how much more powerful Susan B. Anthony could have been if she worked hand in hand with the smart, determined Black women who also wanted change.