# data[].attributes.headline
"Joy is a necessary part of sustainability." - Jesenia, NeuroSpicyNetworking.com via Bluesky

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"Joy is a necessary part of sustainability." - Jesenia, NeuroSpicyNetworking.com via Bluesky

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Practice and normalize informed consent in all your dealings.

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Practice and normalize informed consent in all your dealings.

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Regan de Loggans Jul 5, 2021 8 min read X/Twitter Facebook

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Mutual aid is rooted in Black and Indigenous resistance to state violence. We cannot allow white organizers, non-profits, and philanthropists to co-opt our teachings in a time of panic.

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Draw connections between Disability Justice & Racial Justice, Climate Justice, Land Back, Black Lives Matter, Abolition, Health Equity, etc. to better integrate how relevant it is to achieving equitable outcomes for all.

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Draw connections between Disability Justice & Racial Justice, Climate Justice, Land Back, Black Lives Matter, Abolition, Health Equity, etc. to better integrate how relevant it is to achieving equitable outcomes for all.

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Complete the Land Back course and think critically about how to work in solidarity with Indigenous communities, then act in ways that operationalize that critical thinking because there is no benefit in well-informed privileged folx who do not actually shift power to marginalized folx with all that knowledge! 🔥

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Complete the Land Back course and think critically about how to work in solidarity with Indigenous communities, then act in ways that operationalize that critical thinking because there is no benefit in well-informed privileged folx who do not actually shift power to marginalized folx with all that knowledge! 🔥

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A Yellowhead School Online Course Land Back An open access online course about the ways Canada dispossesses Indigenous people of the land -- and the strategies communities are using to get it back. This seven-module online course from the Yellowhead School is based on the Yellowhead Institute Red Paper, Land Back. In this course, you will learn about the scope of land dispossession in Canada, historically and in the present, as well as examples of resistance that result in the enforcement of Indigenous models of consent. The also course considers the future of the Land Back movement with reference to climate activism and solidarity with non-Indigenous communities. Register Today! Each module includes: Narrated slides, transcripts for download;Recommended readings / videos / podcastsReflection activities to support your learningGuest lectures from experts in Land Back From the origins of settler colonialism to the era of reconciliation, land remains at the centre of the conflict between Indigenous peoples and Canadians. So what could a just future look like? Who is this Course for? The course is for people who are interested and engaged in advancing the concept of Land Back in practice. A basic understanding of the history of the relationship between Canadians and Indigenous people is expected.Indigenous community members;Senior high school or undergraduate students (or equivalent learning levels);Educators working in this area;Members of the general public with some knowledge of colonialism and Indigenous experiences. Course Features & Formats Open Enrolment (Free) Recommended Resources Narrated Slides Online, Self-Directed & Self-Paced 1-3 hours (approx) per module Downloadable Transcripts COurse OUTLINE MODULE 1Introduction to Land BackWhat is Yellowhead Institute, the history of “Red Papers” and the concept of Land Back? MODULE 2The Spectrum of ConsentHow is Indigenous self-determination and consent ignored, coerced, negotiated or enforced? MODULE 3DenialHow do the Crown and industry dispossess Indigenous peoples of land and waters today? MODULE 4RecognitionWhat strategies have been developed by government and private industry to address Indigenous demands for self-determination? MODULE 5ReclamationWhat are the specific practices and strategies Indigenous people deploy to enforce their visions of consent-based jurisdiction? MODULE 6Land Back and Climate ActionCan Indigenous people really save the planet? Why Indigenous jurisdiction matters in the midst of an ongoing climate crisis. MODULE 7Land Back FuturesWho has been left out of the Land Back discussion and what are the possibilities for effective solidarity? Questions?To learn more about the course, check out our FAQs! FAQs Share this course with others! Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Share this course with others! Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

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"I don't need you to be perfect, but I need you to try though"

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"I don't need you to be perfect, but I need you to try though"

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Consider incorporating Access Intimacy Bingo in accommodating the disabilities you may not experience: 

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Consider incorporating Access Intimacy Bingo in accommodating the disabilities you may not experience: 

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Name the privileges you bring to a space or relationship! 👀

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Name the privileges you bring to a space or relationship! 👀

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Wake up, greet the sun, and pray.

Burn cedar, sweet grass, sage—

sacred herbs to honor the lives we’ve been given,

for we have been gifted these ways since the beginning of time.

Remember, when you step into the arena of your life,

think about those who stand beside you, next to, and with you.

Your ancestors are always in your corner, along with your people.

When we enter this world we are born hungry,

our spirits long for us to live out our traditions

that have been passed down for generations.

Prayer, ceremony, dance, language—our ways of being.

Never forget you were put on this earth for a reason—

honor your ancestors.

Be a good relative.

# data[].attributes.body
Into a world which needed you

My wish for you

Is that you continue

Continue

To be who and how you are

To astonish a mean world

With your acts of kindness

Continue

To allow humor to lighten the burden

of your tender heart

Continue

In a society dark with cruelty

To let the people hear the grandeur

Of God in the peals of your laughter

Continue

To let your eloquence

Elevate the people to heights

They had only imagined

Continue

To remind the people that

Each is as good as the other

And that no one is beneath

Nor above you

Continue

To remember your own young years

And look with favor upon the lost

And the least and the lonely

Continue

To put the mantel of your protection

Around the bodies of

The young and defenseless

Continue

To take the hand of the despised

And diseased and walk proudly with them

In the high street

Some might see you and

Be encouraged to do likewise

Continue

To plant a public kiss of concern

On the cheek of the sick

And the aged and infirm

And count that as a

Natural action to be expected

Continue

To let gratitude be the pillow

Upon which you kneel to

Say your nightly prayer

And let faith be the bridge

You build to overcome evil

And welcome good

Continue

To ignore no vision

Which comes to enlarge your range

And increase your spirit

Continue

To dare to love deeply

And risk everything

For the good thing

Continue

To float

Happily in the sea of infinite substance

Which set aside riches for you

Before you had a name

Continue

And by doing so

You and your work

Will be able to continue

Eternally

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Why Some People Be Mad at Me Sometimes by Lucille Clifton

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Why Some People Be Mad at Me Sometimes by Lucille Clifton

# data[].attributes.body
they ask me to remember

but they want me to remember

their memories

and i keep on remembering

mine.

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I know crips live here by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

# data[].attributes.subject
I know crips live here by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

# data[].attributes.body
I know crips live here. So many couches and blanket throws.

I know crips live here. A bathroom filled with coconut oil, unscented conditioner and black soap.

I know crips live here. Your Humira and T on the bottom shelf of the fridge.

I know crips live here. Only house on the block with a homemade ramp, property standards so mad.

I know crips live here. Big exhale at the shower chair, the slip pads and the air purifier.

I know crips live here. I see all the things in reach around your mattress of glory, the vibrator, the library books, the TV, the stuffed animals.

I know crips live here. Straws and Poise pads and crosswords and weighted blankets and stim toys.

I know crips live here. You've been home for a couple days. A week. That's the imprint of your ass in the couch surrounded by empty bags of food and plates and the Advil and the heating pad.

I know crips live here. 50 pounds of epsom salts, from the farm store, your painkiller display like an altar.

I know crips live here. I see your EBT card and your fought for DSHS care attendant.

I know crips live here. How you taught yourself to be an herbalist so you could afford to manage your pain.

I know crips live here. Everybody late.

I know crips live here. Your dogs, cats and stuffed animals are part of your family.

I know crips live here. Your disabled parking placard a candle in the window.

I know crips live here.

Welcome

You are home.

# data[].attributes.body
after Lucille Clifton

I wish them more mouths to feed

I wish them no hot water

I wish them a petty landlord

I wish them a pack of noodles

with the seasoning packet missing

I wish them tonight's dinner still frozen in the freezer

I wish them no McDonald's money

I wish them no income tax check

I wish them paid on the 1st

I wish them broke by the 3rd

I wish them a baby daddy

who is no help and won't answer the phone

I wish them expensive childcare

I wish them an aching body

I wish them longer hours

I wish them exhaustion

and then

I wish them an extra shift,

the graveyard.

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Immigrants: First Generation by Ijeoma Umebinyuo

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Immigrants: First Generation by Ijeoma Umebinyuo

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Here’s to the security guards who maybe had a degree in another land. Here’s to the manicurist who had to leave her family to come here, painting the nails, scrubbing the feet of strangers. Here’s to the janitors who don’t even . . . understand English yet work hard despite it all. Here’s to the fast food workers who work hard to see their family smile. Here’s to the laundry man at the Marriott who told me with the sparkle in his eyes how he was an engineer in Peru. Here’s to the bus driver, the Turkish Sufi who almost danced when I quoted Rumi. Here’s to the harvesters who live in fear of being deported for coming here to open the road for their future generation. Here’s to the taxi drivers from Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and India who gossip amongst themselves. Here is to them waking up at 4 am, calling home to hear the voices of their loved ones. Here is to their children, to the children who despite it all become artists, writers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, activists and rebels. Here’s to Western Union and Money Gram. For never forgetting home. Here’s to their children who carry the heartbeats of their motherland and even in sleep, speak with pride about their fathers. Keep on.

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i think one
of the most pathological things i have ever seen is
stabbing
someone
and
then telling them that their
pain and anger
over being stabbed
is
making you sad.

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For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours;

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.

And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.

# data[].attributes.body
For twenty minutes

but decide to
push through
on the twenty-first.

Survival is a ritual,
a ceremony, and
a practice.

# data[].attributes.headline
what they did yesterday afternoon by Warsan Shire

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what they did yesterday afternoon by Warsan Shire

# data[].attributes.body
they set my aunts house on fire

i cried the way women on tv do

folding at the middle

like a five pound note.

i called the boy who used to love me

tried to ‘okay’ my voice

i said hello

he said warsan, what’s wrong, what’s happened?

i’ve been praying,

and these are what my prayers look like;

dear god

i come from two countries

one is thirsty

the other is on fire

both need water.

later that night

i held an atlas in my lap

ran my fingers across the whole world

and whispered

where does it hurt?

it answered

everywhere

everywhere

everywhere.

# data[].attributes.headline
Calling on All Silent Minorities by June Jordan 

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Calling on All Silent Minorities by June Jordan 

# data[].attributes.body
HEY

C’MON

COME OUT

WHEREVER YOU ARE

WE NEED TO HAVE THIS MEETING

AT THIS TREE

AIN’ EVEN BEEN

PLANTED

YET

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW @ Intersectional Equity Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW Intersectional Equity Insights

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The Disability Justice Revolution We All Need Will Never Include Access Intimacy Abuse

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This essay deconstructs Access Intimacy Abuse, the term I coined to illuminate the phenomenon by which disabled folx can be harmed by those who weaponize Access Intimacy to exploit us. This conceptualization draws on the writing of Mia Mingus, L. X. Z. Brown, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Octavia Butler, Mariame Kaba, Zora Neale Hurston, and Sins Invalid, along with beloved ancestral disabled kin like Alice Wong, Patty Berne, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Stacey Park Milbern, Ki’tay D. Davidson, Ruby Goorahoo, Audre Lorde, Harriet Tubman, etc., whose work informs mine.

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Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW @ Intersectional Equity Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW Intersectional Equity Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Please Never Assume I Can Access Care Like Skinny White Straight Abled Canadian Women

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This newsletter post delves into how oppressive forces like white supremacy, settler-colonialism, ableism, etc., never bode well for universal healthcare, even in Canada, based on the author’s circuitous journey to accessing care for disordered eating patterns during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. If interested in learning more about how Disability Justice would address the fascism we currently face, readers are welcome to attend the author’s free/donations-welcome Disability Justice 101 workshop, scheduled for 7-9pm on Saturday, January 31, 2026.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW @ Intersectional Equity Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW Intersectional Equity Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Disability Justice Work Must Include Holding Space for Grief

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This newsletter post delves into the grief that often accompanies health challenges, aging, etc. It invites readers to consider how Disability Justice work must include holding space for grief as a human emotion. If interested in learning more about this vital Disability Justice framework that would address all the social justice issues we currently face, readers are welcome to attend the author’s free/donations-welcome Disability Justice 101 workshop, scheduled for 7-9pm on Saturday, January 31, 2026.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW @ Intersectional Equity Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW Intersectional Equity Insights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post introduces readers to the Disability Justice principle of Cross-Disability Solidarity through a discussion of alt text promotion on Bluesky. It outlines how the usage of alt text with image posts embodies a commitment to equity values beyond what may be stated in a policy. Readers are invited to consider a 2026 new year resolution whereby they commit to alt text use going forward.

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Exploring which social change role best suits you and others can aid with ensuring sustainability, given the risk of burnout doing movement work.

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Exploring which social change role best suits you and others can aid with ensuring sustainability, given the risk of burnout doing movement work.

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Come. You. Yes, you.

Tonight we are gathering stories, ours, yours.

Each of us with our bundles of sticks, each of us with our strands of cord.

The word in your pocket is what we need.

The song in your heart, the callous on your heel.

Come out of the forest, the woodwork, the shadows to this place of freedom

quilombo, swamp town, winter camp, yucayeque

where those not meant to survive laugh and weep together

share breath from mouth to mouth, pass cups of water, break bread

and let our living bodies speak.

Our history is in our bodies what we do to breathe,

how we move, the sounds we make

our myriad shapes, our wild gestures

far outside the boundaries of what’s expected

the knowledge bound into our bones, our trembling muscles, our laboring lungs

like secret seeds tied into the hair of our stolen ancestors we carry it everywhere.

Come beloveds from your narrow places from your iron beds,

from your lonely perches

come warm and sweaty from the arms of lovers

we who invent a world each morning

and speak in fiery tongues.

Come you with voices like seagulls

dissonant and lovely, with hands like roots and twigs.

Come limbs that wander and limbs like buds and limbs heavy as stone

come breathless and swollen and weary, fevered and wracked with pain.

Come slow and heavy, come wary and scarred,

come sweet and harsh and strong. Come arched with pleasure, come slick with honey

come breathless with delight.

We say with our feet, with our backs and hands

no life belongs to another, our bodies are not acreage livestock, overhead, disposable tools.

We hum as we travel, songs heavy with maps that lead us back to ourselves

singing you, yes you, are irreplaceable.

Here we are, and here we are fruitful our stories flower, take wing, reproduce like windblown seeds.

No surgeon’s knife can cut the lines of spirit. Our family tree remains.

– Patricia Berne, David Langstaff & Aurora Levins Morales, Skin, Tooth, and Bone/The Basis of Movement is Our People: A Disability Justice Primer

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BIPOC LGBTQIA+ communities deserve care for eating disorders

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Activists, researchers, and theorists weigh in on this pressing issue

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Review this hermit crab essay and consider how you can make use of any class privilege to support more multiply marginalized folx. 

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Review this hermit crab essay and consider how you can make use of any class privilege to support more multiply marginalized folx. 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SUSTAINABLE BIPOC RESISTANCE - PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN BINGO.pdf

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In my day job as an accessibility adviser at a university, I support students with disabilities to complete their undergraduate studies with academic accommodations. From intake through graduation, if all goes as planned, I work to provide students with extensions and makeup tests when health conditions make these necessary despite their best attempts to avoid that outcome.

While I have yet to see "challenging the inherent ableism in academia" listed in my job description, I understood the need for this work within weeks of liaison with university faculty. It is often why I am told by those in administration that my notes still read as if I'm taking on the role of a therapist - a position I held at the school previously - but one cannot do justice to this work without a thorough understanding of oppression. In fact, it was because of how powerless I often felt when supporting students with individual coping skills for what was often rooted in systemic oppression that I left my job as a therapist.

After 22 months in my current position, I still often feel powerless to help students when faculty are unreceptive to liaison from Accessibility Services, especially when folx in administration fail to see how the body I inhabit has an impact on how I am received.

By the time COVID-19 changed how the institution operated in March, students with disabilities were especially affected. They saw that instructors were taking health concerns seriously, and so many of them shared their frustrations that it took a global pandemic for such a necessary shift in the culture.

Some of them thrived, as anxiety no longer limited attendance to those with the ability to participate via Zoom. Others found it more challenging, as the uncertainty of such an unprecedented time made sleep difficult, escalated panic and limited the concentration needed to complete the winter term. Even more heartbreaking were the stories from East Asian students who also had to contend with racism and xenophobia on top of medical diagnoses, which often exacerbated disability issues.

While some may view the scope of my role as primarily to assess a student's disability needs and liaison with faculty regarding academic accommodations, I know far better. I know that students respond to commonality between our lived experiences when they feel comfortable sharing how ableism intersects with racism. Those disclosures require an ethical response from a social worker committed to anti-oppressive practice, which means I validate those feelings and take the time necessary to help students move from such distress toward the academic plans referenced in my job description.

I feel powerless to help students when faculty are unreceptive to liaison from Accessibility Services, especially when folx in administration fail to see how the body I inhabit has an impact on how I am received.

Despite no shortage of reasons why students might experience a flare-up of symptoms at a time when so little felt like it was within their control, I was devastated by how many of them would beat themselves up for not being productive with their plans for writing lengthy papers or studying for final exams. Every day, I would spend hours of my time reminding students that we have no experience surviving a global pandemic, so we should try to be understanding with ourselves if we are struggling more than usual to keep up our productivity levels right now.

I knew all too well that my own ability to concentrate on my work duties had been undeniably affected by my increasing challenges with back pain, sleep and migraines, as well as the accompanying lack of understanding from less equity-minded folx in administration. Following my last day of work on campus in March, I proceeded to visit my chiropractor's office for my twice-weekly appointment and was told they would be closed for the next three weeks to help flatten the curve of coronavirus infections. I will admit that in the beginning, I naively thought that quarantine measures would be brief, so I rationalized that it would be nice to not have to commute for two hours daily. As weeks passed, though, I missed no one more than my beloved chiropractor.

Unfortunately, it would be three long months until my chiropractic treatment could resume, during which I dealt with increasingly greater back pain, which limited sleep and exacerbated migraines. Although each of these challenges individually may have been manageable, the unholy trinity together proved debilitating.

Given how benign the description of "soft tissue injuries" sounds, the back pain that has tormented me for decades feels much worse. Meanwhile, sleep issues following workplace harassment in 2016 feel like the ultimate betrayal, as they came after 30 long years during which I had come to expect rest at the end of each day. Migraine disorder was the first to grace my chart in the doctor's office, and that diagnosis came after I repeatedly complained about my headaches.

Often, I would miss a day or two of work and apologize profusely to students upon my return, in an attempt to challenge their internalized ableism about not working hard enough.

In the long months before my diagnosis, assumptions that I was just partying too much in university was what passed for care in the medical-industrial complex, as my doctor failed to see the humanity of a young woman from the Caribbean.

I understand the struggles of students with disabilities because I face my own health challenges. During this global pandemic, back pain, migraines and sleep issues converged to wreak havoc on my daily functioning.

At first I hesitated to take sick time, especially when students were writing final exams in late spring. As the weeks went on, the ability to function at work became less and less within my control, so I took more sick days than I had in my prior two years at the university, despite my best efforts.

Often, I would miss a day or two of work and apologize profusely to students upon my return, in an attempt to challenge their internalized ableism about not working hard enough. This was necessary when another extension was needed, or a makeup test had to be facilitated. There was not a shadow of doubt in my mind that such accommodations were necessary due to unavoidable flare-ups.

Unfortunately, employment at three universities in my decadelong career as a social worker had taken its toll, as I knew better than to expect compassion from the academia's altar of ableism. I had grown accustomed to daily violations of my humanity, clothed in condescending language to gaslight, silence and derail me. Unfortunately, my experience mirrors that of other BIPOC folx - our work is more heavily policed when the unoppressed even deign to let the likes of us into the whiteness of academia. I know this both from countless anecdotes shared between labored breaths and wailing sobs, as well as the research that academia prefers to engage in rather than believe our lived experiences.

A good snapshot of the mindfuck that has been my experience is what I navigated earlier this year, when I simultaneously received a letter from management about concerns regarding my work and was also nominated for an award, based on demonstration of outstanding commitment to service to students.

Over time, I grew more comfortable with using my own pandemic experience of pain issues for appropriate self-disclosure to help students understand that many of us were struggling, especially when quarantine measures reduced access to necessary treatment for our health. As I reflect on this, I realize that the visceral distance from that physical campus space has undoubtedly supported my ability to shake off those ableist confines of academia that bound me.

Turns out, it would take COVID-19 for me to grow more comfortable with accepting my own identity as disabled, despite working hard for decades to challenge internalized ableism with any population I served in various social work roles. Although I cringed when students questioned their worth due to exacerbated disability issues limiting their academic plans, I somehow had less understanding for my own gaps in functioning due to disrupted chiropractic treatment for weeks.

I realize that the visceral distance from that physical campus space has undoubtedly supported my ability to shake off those ableist confines of academia that bound me.

As my students with disabilities struggled more than usual with executive functioning, which exacerbated their internalized negative beliefs about themselves, my work of challenging those beliefs allowed me to gradually accept my own disability. I worked on unpacking internalized ableism with students when they fell into the trap of thinking that good health was a moral obligation when they were struggling to be productive in academia. It was then that I realized I, too, needed a reminder that disability issues require accommodations for equity, whether they required more sick time or a group work alternative.

Unfortunately, unpacking internalized ableism will continue to be necessary in the current context whereby able-bodied folx largely dictate the terms of reference for what is required. It is why I support students when faculty members question whether an entire week's extension is needed, even though that's their academic accommodation based on their disability.

I understand this personally, as my own boss is aware that migraines, sleep issues and back pain are all chronic health conditions that can be aggravated by stress, and he is also aware that medical documentation will be based on my self-report, yet that does not stop his ableist expectations. As I reinforce to students that bureaucratic opposition never invalidates their disabilities, it serves as a good reminder for me as well. I will happily maintain this work of confronting internalized ableism for me and my students, because if the current pushback is any indication, these reminders will continue to be needed.
Have a compelling first-person story or experience you want to share? Send your story description to pitch@huffpost.com.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What I've Learned About Academic Ableism As A University Employee With Chronic Pain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In my day job as an accessibility adviser at a university, I support students with disabilities to complete their undergraduate studies with academic accommodations. From intake through graduation, if all goes as planned, I work to provide students with extensions and makeup tests when health conditions make these necessary despite their best attempts to avoid that outcome.

# data[].attributes.headline
No body or mind can be left behind – only moving together can we accomplish the revolution we require.

# data[].attributes.subject
No body or mind can be left behind – only moving together can we accomplish the revolution we require.

# data[].attributes.headline
As brown, Black and queer-bodied disabled people we bring flexibility and creative nuance that go beyond able-bodied/minded normativity, to be in community with each other.

# data[].attributes.subject
As brown, Black and queer-bodied disabled people we bring flexibility and creative nuance that go beyond able-bodied/minded normativity, to be in community with each other.

# data[].attributes.headline
We meet each others’ needs as we build toward liberation, knowing that state solutions inevitably extend into further control over lives.

# data[].attributes.subject
We meet each others’ needs as we build toward liberation, knowing that state solutions inevitably extend into further control over lives.

# data[].attributes.headline
We honor the insights and participation of all of our community members, knowing that isolation undermines collective liberation.

# data[].attributes.subject
We honor the insights and participation of all of our community members, knowing that isolation undermines collective liberation.

# data[].attributes.headline
We pace ourselves, individually and collectively, to be sustained long term. Our embodied experiences guide us toward ongoing justice and liberation.

# data[].attributes.subject
We pace ourselves, individually and collectively, to be sustained long term. Our embodied experiences guide us toward ongoing justice and liberation.

# data[].attributes.headline
People have inherent worth outside of commodity relations and capitalist notions of productivity. Each person is full of history and life experience.

# data[].attributes.subject
People have inherent worth outside of commodity relations and capitalist notions of productivity. Each person is full of history and life experience.

# data[].attributes.headline
Shifting how social justice movements understand disability and contextualize ableism, disability justice lends itself to politics of alliance.

# data[].attributes.subject
Shifting how social justice movements understand disability and contextualize ableism, disability justice lends itself to politics of alliance.

# data[].attributes.headline
In an economy that sees land and humans as components of profit, we are anti-capitalist by the nature of having non-conforming body/minds.

# data[].attributes.subject
In an economy that sees land and humans as components of profit, we are anti-capitalist by the nature of having non-conforming body/minds.

# data[].attributes.headline
“We are led by those who most know these systems.” – Aurora Levins Morales

# data[].attributes.subject
“We are led by those who most know these systems.” – Aurora Levins Morales

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“We do not live single issue lives”                                   – Audre Lorde                        Ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy, has rendered the vast majority of the world “invalid.”

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“We do not live single issue lives”                                   – Audre Lorde                        Ableism, coupled with white supremacy, supported by capitalism, underscored by heteropatriarchy, has rendered the vast majority of the world “invalid.”

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Having privilege means that you possess an unearned advantage in society through some aspect of your identity, in comparison to folx who lack that attribute. These dynamics tend to reflect larger power differentials in society as folx who are members of a dominant group possess privilege over those whose identity marginalizes them by comparison.

While it can be uncomfortable to recognize that you have unearned advantages over other folx through no fault of theirs, working through your discomfort can allow you to utilize your privilege in a way that promotes more equitable outcomes for others in society.

This article will provide examples of what privilege can look like in everyday life, tips on how you can gain better awareness of your privilege, and how you can use it to work in solidarity with marginalized groups.

Examples of Privilege in Society

There are many ways in which privilege can present itself, and while there are general trends, anomalies do exist. It's possible that certain types of privilege may not hold true in all circumstances. What's more, when people are accustomed to having privilege, that experience is normal for them and thus it is hard to recognize. For example, you may have privilege based on facets of your identity in the following ways:

When it comes to race, white folx benefit from an unearned advantage in society, as they are treated better than those who come from BIPOC communities based on their skin color.

While white folx do experience challenges in life, these challenges are not caused by the color of their skin. In addition to recognizing white privilege, research has found that such awareness of this kind of privilege alone did not result in a change regarding racial bias.

However, in addition to recognizing privilege, if white folx also feel empowered by their ability to engage in social change, that allowed them to take the actions needed to address injustice. Doing so ultimately results in an impact on racial biases.﻿﻿

Wealthy folx have unearned advantages over those who lack such financial resources because they have greater access to opportunities. In this way, while wealthier individuals may deal with difficulties in life, these hardships are not caused by their increased financial resources in the same way that folx who lack wealth are oppressed.

Research shows that talking about class is often difficult because these discussions typically bring up the topic of race (an uncomfortable subject for many). Moreover, these conversations may also affirm the fact that those of a higher class are afforded privileges that others do not have the opportunity to access.﻿﻿

If those with class privilege avoid talking about that and hold negative attitudes towards marginalized groups, this problematic way of thinking will continue. By this, it is crucial to get comfortable with acknowledging your privilege so you can utilize it for good.

Cisgender individuals possess privilege over transgender and nonbinary folx. Also, men have unearned advantages over marginalized genders.

While those who identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth may experience challenges, these difficulties are not tied to their identity as a cisgender individual. In contrast, cissexism greatly impacts the lives of trans and nonbinary folx.

Similarly, the difficulties that men face are not a result of their gender. Due to this, gender privilege oppresses marginalized genders and negatively impacts their lives in various ways.

In working towards more inclusive gender policies at a university, researchers found that "the work of facilitating a cultural shift, the reality of what often must occur, is time consuming and one that requires partnership across traditional lines of power and privilege."﻿﻿

Regarding ability, folx who are able-bodied have unearned advantages over disabled folx, which impacts their lives. Those who do not experience disabilities possess privilege over disabled individuals.

Research on the experiences of ableism found that 28.3% of the disabled students reported having experienced microaggressions in their social work classes, such as minimizing or dismissing disability issues, bullying, etc.﻿﻿

If these issues are being reported in an academic program, in which faculty are expected to promote equitable outcomes (a core value of the social work field), it shows how those working in academic institutions can fail to acknowledge their own able-bodied privilege when relating to disabled folx.

Sexual Orientation

With respect to sexual orientation, heterosexual folx possess privilege over other sexual orientations, as they benefit from societal constructs that place them in the dominant group over folx who are homosexual, pansexual, asexual, etc.

While heterosexual folx may experience difficulties in their lives, these are not related to their sexual orientation.

A study of heterosexual women sampled at twenty‐year intervals from 1952 to 1992 found that social change in attitudes can and did occur during the first 20 years, but less so in the second 20-year period.﻿﻿ In this way, it is easy to see how those with privilege often take it for granted.

Other Examples of Privilege

These are just a few examples of how you can possess privilege in our society, but there are many other aspects of your identity whereby you may have an unearned advantage including:

Gaining Awareness of Your Privileges

Like most things, becoming aware of your privilege takes work, but if you are interested in helping to promote equitable outcomes for all folx, such investment in efforts to better understand your privilege can pave the way towards dismantling oppressive systems and attitudes.

This is really a challenge for all of us because of how we are socialized in society and because of the constant messaging we get in all different forms (education, media, etc.) about all of these different types of anti-isms.

Some of us would benefit from individual therapy to assist with identifying privileges if we are unable to thoroughly work on it by ourselves. It is something that has to be continuously worked on.

Intersectionality

Back in 1989, Kimberle Crenshaw first coined the term " intersectionality" to highlight the many attributes of one's identity.

What Is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality includes gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc. Crenshaw argues that without taking these pieces of someone's identity into consideration it becomes difficult to understand the extent of an individual's marginalization.﻿﻿

Crenshaw argued that the "focus on the most privileged group members marginalizes those who are multiply-burdened and obscures claims that cannot be understood as resulting from discrete sources of discrimination."﻿﻿

In other words, once you have an understanding of the aspects of your identity that afford you certain privileges, it can be helpful to reflect on how your privilege manifests itself in different situations.

How Intersectionality Can Highlight Your Privilege

If you are white and able to reflect on your white identity and think critically in terms of your understanding of law enforcement, whereby Black folx are killed at a rate that is 2.8 times higher than that of their white counterparts,﻿﻿ you may understand whiteness as a privilege.

In another example, you might take note of how your physical appearance, body size, and age offer you certain privileges over those with a disability or who are older.

If you are able-bodied, you likely do not experience people assuming that you are incompetent without ever knowing your work ethic and abilities.

Using Your Privilege to Help Others

After recognizing the ways in which you have privilege, you can use those advantages to help promote equitable outcomes for others.

Self-Reflection to Address Your Privilege

Self-reflection is a great way to understand your privilege because it fosters critical thinking so you can connect your individual lived experiences to larger systemic realities.﻿﻿ Doing so can pave the way for you to help create social change.

Acknowledge Your Privilege in Conversations

When it comes to using your privilege to help others, you can probably imagine many ways to do good, but often those with privilege fail to recognize how much harm they can do when they do not think critically enough about the power they hold.

The potential for harm in this way is particularly impacted by that very privilege because having privilege can lead you to believe you have earned more than you have actually worked for. This can lead to feeling superior over your oppressed counterparts.

To avoid additional harm, when engaging in conversations about America's social issues, try to preface your statements with the aspects of your identity in which you have privilege.

For example, if you are a cisgender, white man and find yourself in a discussion about societal issues with someone who identifies as nonbinary, you can acknowledge that your gender and race affords you certain privileges in society.

It's also important to be mindful of your privilege, and listen a lot more than talk when engaging with members of marginalized communities.

Privilege Lessens the Severity of Your Oppression

It's important to understand your privilege and marginalization affects the oppression you face.

Having privilege in one area can lessen the oppression you face in another. For example, white transgender folx face less oppression than transgender folx who are also BIPOC.

In another instance, an able-bodied white woman may have fewer disadvantages than a white man dealing with a disability.

A Word From Verywell

It's important to understand how having privilege affords you unearned advantages in life over marginalized groups. Acknowledging privilege in conversations can help to make room for oppressed folx to express themselves.

The more willing that you are to think critically about your privilege, the more comfortable you can become using your privilege to help enact social change-something that is extremely necessary for those who are continuously disadvantaged.

Deep self-reflection can feel overwhelming, but it's crucial to put in that consistent effort in order to see a shift in the treatment of those who are oppressed.

If you really want to make a difference, it's also important to examine the ways that you could use your privilege in your daily life to help those from marginalized spaces. That would ultimately have the impact on society that we need.

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This article identifies some ways in which you may possess privilege in society and discusses how your privilege can be used to help marginalized groups.