Intersectionality Matters

Title: Intersectionality Matters

Creator and Host: Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

What is it? A podcast. (Each episode is between 45-60 minutes.)

Who should listen to it? If you are a thoughtful person looking to better understand the nuances of complex social issues and the ways that identity politics affect people’s everyday lives as well as how they play out in socio-political life, this is a great podcast for you. If you find yourself asking, “Why is this a big deal?” about a certain social issue, or “Why do people care so much about this?” Kimberlé Crenshaw and her guests may have the answers you are seeking.

Two minute skinny:  In her introduction, Crenshaw describes the podcast as a show that, “Brings intersectionality to life, exploring the hidden dimensions of today’s most pressing issues. It’s an idea travelog, that lifts up the work and ideas of leading activists, artists, and scholars to help listeners understand politics, the law, social movements, and even their own lives in deeper, more nuanced ways.”

Each episode brings into focus the complexities of living with intersectional identities. Covering issues from how black women experience the #MeToo movement to deeply understanding how race plays into the way that people are experiencing the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the podcast articulates experiences that are often left unexplored in mainstream media. If you are a person living in a body with multiple marginalized identities, you may find that this podcast gives voice to your lived experiences in ways you have not heard before. Or if you are a person looking to better understand what this experience might be like, this podcast offers a wide array of insights from many different people. From academics and intellectual experts to everyday people sharing their challenging experiences in everyday life, Crenshaw brings panels of voices together and tells long untold stories in a masterful way. It is not always the easiest listen. Many of the stories she raises are heartbreaking, and the injustice that people face for simply living in black and brown bodies is infuriating. However, in the fight for social justice, understanding the experiences of the most marginalized is essential, and we highly recommend you engage with the work that Crenshaw is doing.

Episodes to check out: For this section this time, we are going to highlight three of our favorite episodes for you to check out:

• What Slavery Engendered: An Intersectional look at 1619 - Crenshaw and Dorothy Roberts, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, explore the long lasting impacts of slavery, segregation and white supremacy, specifically as they continue to impact black women in the United States today.

• Black Men for Trump?: The Overdue Conversation on Patriarchy & Misogynoir in Black Politics - This is a fascinating live episode, where panelists discuss the challenges of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia in the black community, and what needs to happen for black men to truly find self-love.

• The Neverending Insurrection: Legacies of January 6 - This episode features an outstanding panel of experts who seek to unpack the events at the capital a year after they occurred. They focus both on the racist undercurrents of the attempted coup, as well as explore how the Trump administration permitted and even made possible this terrifying event.

Rating? Worth the Investment? We give this podcast five stars. It is important to engage with conversations around identity and intersectionality. This is a great way to better understand political and social issues from many different angles. We certainly recommend that you check this podcast out.

Listen, I don’t have time for a podcast… What's second best? We do think it’s worth your time to listen to this podcast (at least choose and episode or two that might strike your interest!), but if not, try these other resources:

This is a brief read on how Crenshaw’s work came into the mainstream, and what has muddied the waters around the word intersectionality. https://www.thecut.com/2018/03/a-brief-convoluted-history-of-the-word-intersectionality.html

Understand just a bit more about who Crenshaw is and her professional career here: https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/kimberle-w-crenshaw

And in case you wanted to go deeper:

Here is the original 1989 paper written by Crenshaw where she coins the term intersectionality. It is a good read, and we recommend taking the time for it.

This is a lovely, if lengthy, think piece about Crenshaw and her emergence into the mainstream world. https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination

And you can find a book edited by Crenshaw and several other leading scholars about ending colorblindness in Academia and more broadly here.

Blog Post by Hallie Moberg Brauer