Global Feminisms Project United States

1. Global Feminisms ProjectUnited States Feminist Activism at the Intersections Elizabeth R. Cole, University of Michigan Global Feminisms Conference September14-15, 2006

2. Acknowledgements • Global Feminisms US Site Team and Nadine Naber, Andy Smith, Elizabeth Wingrove, Maria Cotera, Anna Kirkland, Emily Lawsin, Miriam Asnes, Jennifer Lyle, Jayati Lal, and many others • Leslie Marsh and Helen Ho, technical interns • Shana Schoem, research assistant

3. Hegemonic US feminism The dominance of western, “north” or “first world” assumptions about what it means to be a feminist and what women need to be liberated. • wave model • considers sexism the ultimate oppression, de-emphasizes race and class • rights based, rather than justice based vision of social change • focus on the US

4. Major themes • We wanted to tell a different history of US feminism. • We choose activists whose work on behalf of women intersects with other social movements. • These interviews illustrate intersectionality in practice.

5. Our strategy • Chose activists who have had less public voice. • Helps us learn about an important “fault line” within the women’s movement in the US. • Sheds light on the relationship between feminism and other social movements in the US.Ensured that we have a diverse sample of activists with respect to these other identities. • Helps us theorize the meaning(s) of intersectionality based on the praxis of these activists’ work.

6. Method • Interviewees were 10 scholar-activists whose work addresses sites of intersection between feminism and other forms of oppression (e.g. race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, social class, disability, etc.). • Often their scholarship took unconventional forms. • Interviewees came to Ann Arbor • Television studio with Audience participation • Interviewer worked with site team and interviewee to develop questions. • Tried to get coverage across generations, issues and modalities. • Made introductory montages for each video

7. Grace Lee Boggs • Daughter of Chinese immigrants, Boggs was born in 1915 in Providence, R.I. • In 1953 she came to Detroit where she married labor activist James Boggs. Working together in grassroots groups they were partners for 40+ years until James’ death. • Her 60 years of political involvement encompass the major U.S. social movements of the last century • Cofounder of Detroit Summer

8. Marian Kramer & Maureen Taylor • Longtime friends and welfare rights activists • “Baby boomer” generation • Based in Detroit area • Maureen holds a graduate degree in social work. • Marian is currently leading a struggle against the utility shut offs of water to thousands of Detroit residents who cannot pay for their wat

9. Marian: And therefore, you know, ah, that’s why we participate in all these struggles....you know, the right to choice and stuff like that, we make people understand, in order for the women that we represent to even have choice, they got to have some economic freedom too, you know. You can’t have a choice unless you have the basis economically... Maureen: To make a choice. Um-hum. Marian: ...under this country to be able to have that choice. They don’t even have health care, less more than anything else. So, yes. We are feminists. But at the same time, we will turn around and kick some of those feminists’ butts too, because they just as reactionary to what we are about, because they don’t even touch poor people. Maureen: Uh-uh. Marian: Our thing is that we want a world where we can thrive and not barely survive.

10. Cathy Cohen • Grew up in Toledo, OH, attended UM for Ph.D. in political science. • Now in her 40s. • Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture at the University of Chicago. • Author of: The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics

11. …the moment of intersection is really the moment of building a broader movement…. If you can find those places where people may not agree…. but where they in fact suffer from state regulation or some “system of oppression,” where they share that experience…. those are also the spaces for shared mobilization.

12. Sista II Sista • Community based organization from Brooklyn NY • Collective of working-class young and adult Black women and Latinas. • Dedicated to working with young women to develop personal, collective and spiritual power. • Committed to fighting for justice and making alternatives to the systems we live in by creating social, cultural and political change.

13. Wave model suggests women of color don’t care about feminism Considers sexism the ultimate oppression, de-emphasizes race and class Rights based, rather than justice based vision of social change Focuses on the US WOC do feminist work, even outside feminist orgs. All emphasize intersections, with race, class, disability, etc. Kramer & Taylor recast other choices as first requiring economic choice. All of these interviews talked about how they see their own work in transnational perspective. Generational perspective These examples challenge hegemonic US feminism:

14. Activists Interviewed • Rabab Abdulhadi, Union of Palestinian Women’s Associations in North America • Adrienne Asch, bioethics, rights of the disabled • Grace Lee Boggs, civil rights, urban youth, Detroit Summer • Cathy Cohen, sexuality, HIV and black communities • Holly Hughes, performance artist, sexuality, censorship • Marian Kramer and Maureen Taylor, National Welfare Rights Organization • Loira Limbal and Veronica Gimenez, Sista II Sista, young women of color • Martha Ojeda, labor, Tri-National Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras • Loretta Ross, reproductive justice, human rights • Andrea Smith, Native women, INCITE, anti-violence