We are inviting women from diverse cultures, races, sexual orientation, and all who self-identify as women, regardless of birth gender, to share their personal stories about their encounters with sexism, racism, classism or similar forms of discrimination as they relate to the larger issues of women's oppression.If through dialogue, we find ways to work together to move the lives of women forward, great. If not, we can at least listen to each other and become more sensitive to each others' goals. These diaries are intended to be dialogues among women from their own perspectives. We ask men readers to respect this.
"You are a white woman. No one wants to listen to you."
To say that issues of gender and race have been an issue within the Occupy Seattle movement would be an understatement. The idea that you could participate in what amounts to a 24/7 mass action with no formal structure that includes anyone who chooses to participate and avoid this would be naive. But watching it all play out under extremely stressful circumstances has been what I can only describe as damn near an unmanageable and intolerable experience.
The easiest and most identifiable instances where this is openly occurring is during the general assembly. Obviously there are things going on behind the scenes that feed into the atmosphere there, but for the purposes of this discussion I will focus on what I see during these meetings. Like other occupy movements, we use a progressive stack and general consensus to facilitate these meetings. This has been a long and painstaking process to implement, but the idea was this would eliminate some of the opportunities for sexism and racism to take over the GA.
It was well intended, and only marginally successful so far.
During the early days of the occupation, the meetings were very clearly dominated by white males. Those who feel the most comfortable and accepted in society are always going to be the ones who speak up loudly and most often. I can't say that I am going to dismiss them all as being racist or sexist (although there was definitely a strand of that running through). They were just assuming their nature position in a group, dictated by all those unspoken norms that we have all had to fight against as women.
Coming up with a facilitation plan became a priority. Many of us tried working with those who felt marginalized so they wouldn't leave the movement with hurt feelings. Many of us tried to educate those who were dominating the conversation about why this was making people feel marginalized. It was just chaos of epic proportions.
Flash forward - we being to implement the facilitation plan (scheduled agenda, time limits, progressive stack, voting, blocks, overturning blocks, hand signals, etc). It takes several days to settle in since it is all new and we do have people who rotate in and out of the occupation so there is always a new crowd to educate.
Still the problems remain, specifically for women of color but really women in general.
I've begun to wonder how much we can facilitate our way out of these established gender roles, and really how much facilitation can erase the feelings of being marginalized once it has already happened. I see people who still feel hurt and upset even though very concrete things have been put in place to help them have an opportunity to be heard. Are they going to need more time to see that we are trying, or will they always feel slighted?
On the other hand, I know most of the facilitation team on a personal level and these are all people who have been active in the cause of social justice for many years. I cringe when I see my friends being talked about as being racist, oppressive...because I know they are not since they have worked with me on actions that tell me otherwise. I know these people. But perhaps it is also hard for them to deal with the multiple forces pulling them. They also have to shake off any established gender role identity and work in a situation that none of us have experienced before. I know some of them get flustered when they are attacked.
One prime example is a very dear friend of mine. She is an older white lady who has been active in Seattle for years. She is a radical. She worked to establish co-ops in the city in the poorest communities. She is active with me in Seattle Solidarity Network, a group which works to support oppressed individuals who are cheated by bosses and landlords and all the fights except one that she and I have worked on have been for people of color. She is not racist. But she has been attacked by the POC caucus for the color of her skin and her gender. I find myself having a hard time separating my personal feelings and my "activist" role at Occupy Seattle. They are attacking my comrade. I know why they feel this way but they are wrong!
Thank you for reading, and if any of you have experiences to share from your own occupy movements I would love to read and learn.
Oh, and the comment I used to open this diary came from a man last night. We were having a discussion about the ever widening gap between the women, men, and different races at Occupy Seattle. He himself is a black male. And he said that to tell me what they are thinking when I am speaking (but quickly qualified it by saying he didn't see me that way, and in fact felt bad for being so blunt). I told him it was fine, I am a tough girl, but found myself saddened that we even had to qualify ourselves when we were just having a frank and open discussion about real issues we are trying to fight.