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Iris Young’s work in “The Five Faces of Oppression” contextualizes an overarching problem faced in America; and the adversity of those who can voice for the abolition of these systems that reprimand those over people of higher status. Breaking down oppression, Young categorizes oppression as something greater than our understanding of a system, outlining how power functions not as a “dyadic relation between user and subject, and instead analyzes the exercise of power as the effect of often ‘liberal’ and ‘humane’ practices … production and distribution of consumer goods”

The same production and distribution of consumer goods as a means of oppression is occurring right now in the city, with the push for digital transactions in many restaurants, shops, bodegas, and now trains. The MTA last year officially declared the end of the metro card era, shifting to their new partner OMNY, a part of a digital tap program. The rollout has happened over the course of 2023, and next year is expected to fully finish, marking the end of the MetroCard era. Although perceived to be an upgrade and freeing, the liberal push for tap technology fails to account for the 46% of commuters who make under 50,000, or the many families who can’t access digital technology or tap technology. Its function in the city stands as a hidden border to further distance social classes amongst one another, connecting back to Young’s point about the “conscious actions of many individuals daily contribute to maintaining and reproducing oppression”.

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And that means, the end of the MetroCard is near.

The MTA first announced the news in late 2020, when they shared that they finished the OMNY roll-out right on schedule, even with the pandemic. And now, with a retrospective on NYC's iconic MetroCard machines rolling out to mark their last year in subway stations, it has been revealed that the full switch-over of MetroCard machines to OMNY vending machines will take place by the end of 2023. Though, as you'll see below, New Yorkers will have a little more time to hang on to the classic yellow cards themselves.

OMNY was officially launched in May of 2019, and since then has reached 500 million "taps." Customers can simply tap their bank cards or phones (that have digital wallets) on the OMNY reader as they enter the station, instead of having to buy a MetroCard from the machine and add money to it. They claim it's more convenient for riders, plus more environmentally-friendly.

The completed "phase 1" of the multi-year OMNY project includes over 15,000 OMNY readers at all 472 stations, on all 5,800 buses and at Staten Island Railway. Next is Metro North and the LIRR, which are currently in the process of being installed with OMNY. The MTA also initiated a marketing program called "Tap On, Get On," that helps educate New Yorkers on exactly how the process works.

For those who do not have a smartphone, they will be able to purchase an OMNY card - a contactless fare card - at retail locations like CVS/Walgreens and vending machines within stations which will roll out starting next year. They will also be available to purchase with cash, for those without credit cards. The MTA has also already begun to introduce reduced fares for senior customers and riders with disabilities and integrating OMNY with paratransit services.

So what does that mean for our classic yellow NYC MetroCards? Originally the MTA said they would be phased out by 2023, but now the date has been moved to some time in 2024 due to delays caused by software issues (so you won't be forced to switch to OMNY and can still use the cards until then).

So you might not want to throw out your expired cards just yet, they may soon be a relic!

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MetroCards Will Be Officially Phased Out By 2024, Replaced By OMNY

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By next year, MetroCards will be phased out by the MTA and replaced with OMNY for a more convenient payment process for riders.

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Audrey Lorde: Master's Tools - Sekou S. 

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Audrey Lorde: Master's Tools - Sekou S. 

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Lorde’s work as an activist and famous speech, “The Master’s tools will never dismantle the Master’s house” help echo the essence of both feminism and the abolitionist pretenses it holds behind it. Lorde’s focus on her identity parallels the differences that Young, and other activists describe. She goes on to elaborate how her identity aligns as a “Black Lesbian Feminist”, yet her colleagues around her represent Black feminists or lesbians. The profoundness of this difference has to do with the institutional oppression that lies “in a country where racism, sexism, and homophobia are inseparable,” and that means the issues fought by these seemingly individual identities are connected.

This separation of identities despite facing a common ground reminded me of a YouTube video I had watched earlier in the year run by an account called Jubilee. The video was a discussion about the importance of race and gender (Identity) in America, having multiple contestants stand over the side of agree or disagree. The conversations held in the video reminded me of the conversation Lorde was trying to have with other attendees, about the fracturing that very identity can create in a system. Throughout the video, the topics and values held by the people who share are stemmed in their own beliefs, and through the progression of the conversation, the attendees realized the empathy they held for one another struggles, ultimately having the bigger conversation about what makes these identities categorized from one another.

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Are Americans Obsessed with Race and Gender? | Middle Ground

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Peggy McIntosh’s covers privilege and the role it plays into sustaining oppression, both through a modern and historical lens of context. McIntosh advocates for both the awareness of hidden privilege to be raised, and in doing so, deconstructing the systematic privilege that comes with it. For many like Young spoke about, they are unaware of their privilege, or how their actions contribute to sustaining that privilege, and the study done following the rezoning of New Orleans is a great case of this privilege being revealed

Following the damages of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans faced a great setback in infrastructure damage, prompting estate sellers and investors to consider where re-investment would occur to what parts of New Orleans. The study would show that areas highly invested into and rebuilt first were those congregated towards the central white population, rather than other parts of N.O. that had suffered worse damages than the central area. The government would greenlight this plan, and systematic redevelopment would occur, prompting these newly invested spots to become centralized capital hubs for the state, disregarding the mass community of African-American house owners who had to raise money for their communities  by themselves or through non-profit. In this matter, those centralized in that portion of New Orleans would receive systematic benefits, often those of middle class whites, without even realizing the juxtaposition in zoning improvements faced elsewhere.

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From the Graphics Archive: Mapping Katrina and Its Aftermath (Published 2015)

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A selection of maps published in The New York Times that shows the storm’s impact.