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What is it?
Social justice operates in two ways:
1. It can be defined as a framework of equitable treatment, access and opportunity.
2. Most commonly, and I believe more importantly, it can be defined as an action or a "call to action" in asking for political, social and institutional equity (not equality).

Both facets of social justice are dependent on the acknowledgement and honoring of difference

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In practice.

Social justice can look many ways in practice. It can look like everyday resistance against sexism in the workplace or it can look like advocating for legal change. Most broadly, it looks like understanding one's own positionality within a space and advocating for those who are otherwise different, or institutionally marginalized. Personally, I believe that in practice social justice must not solely be about personal treatment or belief but must actively work to destabilize systems of power but praising difference and centering it in all spaces

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How did I get to this definition?

My understanding of social justice has changed dramatically through undergraduate and graduate studies. With a Bachelor's and Master's in Women's and Gender Studies, justice is something I write about, teach about, and question. As a fat, queer woman, I always thought that equality was necessary until teacher's began to explain the differences between "humanism" and "feminism" in my sophomore year of undergrad. They explained how humanism states that we are all people and we should all be treated with the "same" respects. As nice as this sounds, it does not acknowledge the powerful, important differences not on of bodies, identities and politics but it does not represent the ways in which systemic oppression impacts bodies/people differently.

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1. Defining
In many readings in the course social justice leadership is framed as a leadership style/theory which centers an analysis of oppression and marginalization. However, based on my personal experience, the sources below, and my experience as a gender studies educator, I believe that social justice leadership requires more than an analysis of oppression and marginalization. In defining social justice leadership, to me, I believe the key words would be: systemic, institutional, political and community-informed.
2. In practice
In practice, acknowledging the above terms requires positionality of the self, an acknowledgement of systems of power, politics, and institutions as well as community-based plans to enact change. In my opinion, this can happen most clearly by finding out where student's are in their understanding of their own body/identities and the way those fit within cultural norms, ideas of normalcy, access and equity.
3. Key Take Away
Finally, I believe that the idea of picturing a better, more just and equitable world is important in social justice leadership. Understanding what that world looks like, even in the most imaginative sense, can provide context for what change must happen. It can also aid in burn out to imagine a world focused on difference as a positive, rather than a deficit.

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While social justice and leadership sources have been compiling in my life for several years, on this page are several sources which have impacted this philosophy of social justice and leadership.

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"Meeting All Students' Needs..." by Koschoreck & Slattery

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"Meeting All Students' Needs..." by Koschoreck & Slattery

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This article well defines a central  ideal within my understanding of social justice leadership. The article explains the ways that queer activism within the education system is often working to respond to both actions and language of schools, teachers, students and administrators. However, it explains that "individuals need to have structural representation in order to maintain the energy needed for sustained opposition." It continues in saying that these individuals "cannot succeed without a mechanism that can play a larger role in incorporating them into communities of resistance where mutual recognition is present" (166). The idea of community building is necessary in social justice leadership. This framework explains centers not only community building but community resilience and, most importantly, community accountability. The work of dismantling heterosexism or oppression for queer youth is not solely on the individual but instead requires community for support, resilience and real change.

The clip below is a reminder of the ways that behaviors/ideas of heterosexism are not solely on the individual but rather part of a larger system of power and oppression.

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Heterosexism is a system. Just being accepting won't fix it.

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"Anti-Racist Change..." by Welton, Owens & Zamani-Gallaher

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"Anti-Racist Change..." by Welton, Owens & Zamani-Gallaher

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Anti-racism is an integral part of my view of social justice leadership. I believe it is especially essential in the way it aims for action and it's distinction between being "not racist" and actively "anti-racism" as a personal and political ideology. The text reminds readings of four, nonlinear stages involved in anti-racist action. "1) gaining (and integrating) knowledge, 2) examining self, 3) (re)envisioning the world, and finally 4) taking anti-racist action." The text continues in station that "the ultimate goal of anti-racism is to dismantle institutionalized racism" (3). This dismantling is essential in my understanding of social justice leadership. It is not enough to simply object racist actions/words but one needs to aim to dismantle the systems that perpetuate; this also requires understanding how one's own self is implicated in these systems and may perpetuate them.

The video below shows well-known scholar of Black feminist thought, Patricia Hill Collins, discussing her history/ideas of anti-racist feminist politics.

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Dr. Patricia Hill Collins - Still Brave? Black Feminism as a Social Justice Project (Promo)

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"Leading Beyond Disability..." by Capper, Rodriguez & McKinney

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"Leading Beyond Disability..." by Capper, Rodriguez & McKinney

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Within the field of Women's and Gender studies I research disability justice. This reading is instrumental in developing a social justice leadership style as it studies integration and shows the power of language in defining disability. The article states that social justice and disability studies, "challenged our perspectives about what is normal and shows us that normalcy, difference, and disability are constructed by the social and cultural contexts within our schools" (190).
This is influential in my understanding of social justice leadership as a reminder of the ways school systems are implicated in, and perpetuate, segregation, discursive violence, and an overall lack of equity.

The clip below is a video by prominent disability justice activist Mia Mingus. This video is essential in understanding the difference between disability studies and disability justice. This also helps in imagining what a just, equitable world would look like.

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Mia Mingus on Disability Justice (interview)