The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a tragedy that could have easily been prevented. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, its owners, were notoriously known for setting fires to their businesses in order to collect on the insurance. It was said that they purposely neglected to install sprinkler systems and other key safety measures as a way to ensure they could burn the business down should the need arise. These men also paid off the local police force to imprison female employees who went on strike and also paid local politicians to ignore the crimes they committed. This is yet another terrible example of how immigrants who came to our country to seek out the “American Dream” were taken advantage of and why labor laws are so important. 

This story reminders me of a book (the title is lost in mind) I was assigned for summer reading as a teenager. The book follows a family of Irish immigrants who struggle to overcome deadly working conditions in sweatshops and racial discrimination in order to survive in America. It’s sad to think that sweatshops still exist and are being run by popular name-brand merchants unbeknownst to the consumers. My classmate, Heatherless, posted a snapshot that shows a sweatshop from the past alongside one from current times; it shouldn’t take death and the threat of legal action for companies to treat their employees humanly but history has continued to repeat itself. But as we saw in The True Cost documentary, posted by Hillary, the cost to manufacture clothing has gone down but it has done so at the expense of others.

The second portion of this week’s reading discusses how the state of Virginia became the 38th state to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. It was originally written in 1923 but didn’t get passed by congress until 1972. It was noted that the amendment caused a divide amongst the party members with different agendas. This reminds me of the Bell Hooks reading in which she describes how conflict arouse between the reformist vision or women’s liberation who wanted equality within the current class structure and the more radical viewpoint of building all over. The fact that the ERA just reached the required mark of three-quarters of state approval demonstrates how activism is generally a long-term investment but also reinforces the idea that we can’t really hope for change until our voices are united.

I’m anxious to see how the courts handle the passing of the ERA and the expired deadline Congress set for its ratification. I do wonder if it will result in women being drafted into the military and also can’t wait to see what other movements might be created as a result. What I found most surprising is just how little press this got and how many of my female friends and family members were unaware of the ongoing effort to get this passed. I think this just goes to show how hard at work our system is in its goal of maintaining the status quo. 

The systems in place to perpetuate oppression are long-standing. They have been built into the foundation of our culture and are handed down during the socialization process. In order for American culture to maintain the status quo, any challenges to this system are met with violent rebuke. As saw in One Hundred Years toward Suffrage, Abigail Adams requested that women be considered during the creating of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. However, the 19th Amendment was not passed until 1920. I think it’s important to also note that in 1923, the Nationals Woman’s Party proposed another amendment to eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender and it was never ratified. 

It just simply doesn’t serve our system, primarily built on patriarchy, to give women an equal set at the table. But what really stood out to me, as yet another link in the chain of oppression, was that black women were still required to march at the back of the line. Susan B Anthony, a pillar to the suffrage movement, was quoted saying “ I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman.” Even at a time when every voice available was needed to protest, it came down to White women first. 

In Untold Stories of Black Women in the Suffrage Movement, we saw that Ida B Wells wouldn’t stand for this and that she ran to the front of the line to be seen and heard with the other while participants. Additionally, she was willing to stand up to leaders of the civil rights movement who did not support the suffrage movement. My classmate, Hanna Nichols, posted an image of a quote written by Anna Julia Cooper. I think it really encompasses the suffrage movement as a whole and speaks to the issue we see in movements where the protestors group themselves by racial identity. In order for us to see progress on issues like this, we have to form a united voice.

Judge Anita Crawford said, “we have not broken the glass ceiling” when referring to the ongoing struggle for gender equality. We previously learned that any form of activism does not garner immediate results and generally requires a long-term commitment to the cause. As mentioned above, the woman’s suffrage movement lasted for an entire century and I believe that we will eventually see additional changes to the system. We saw how beneficial publications were to the suffrage movement and I think social media and other forms of technology have demonstrated how powerful they can be as tools to spread our ideas and bridge the gap of distance between supporters. I remember how quickly the Black Lives Matter movement spread and how the creators were able to organize demonstrations across the U.S.

I was able to attend a protest that marched from the city and across the Brooklyn bridge. It felt incredible to know that I was somehow contributing to a solution, even if it was just by being there in person. I pray that it’s not another 100 years before we will see the tides of change and am eager to see how the opposition for oppression evolves with time.

There is so much to unpack from this week’s required readings. In “How to think like an activist”, Wendy Syfret describes how powerful activism is and how it can have far–reaching effects on our community and the way we think. We see how the internet, social media, and technology, in general, have provided a huge platform for various movements and the people that have supported them. A singular voice or opinion is suddenly catapulted out to the world and people unite with a shared purpose of demanding change. She goes on to say how many of the prominent movements of today’s world are descendants of causes that were already previously taken up. But with the power of youth and technology, these movements have evolved in such a way that people are uniting all over the world. I recall just how inflamed social media became when the BLM movement was created following the Zimmerman trial and how it’s now something we chant to decry racial injustice against people of color.

I’d never considered the time and energy it would take to not only organize but to maintain a movement like BLM. That said, this is all the more reason why people like Gracie Lee Boggs and her contributions are so important. In “American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs“, she said, “I saw myself as a part of and apart from the Black community.” The amount of time and energy she poured into the black activist community of Detroit before social media took off, is simply amazing. It was clear that the director wasn’t expecting Boggs to identify so strongly with the black community but her dedication was so great that even the FBI mislabeled her race. That said, while not exactly the same, this reminded me of the snapshot, my classmate, Hannah Nichols shared in which she posted a quote from Kathleen Hanna that reads “I would much rather be the ‘obnoxious feminist girl’ than be complicit in my own dehumanization.” Boggs essentially stated that her personal identity is interwoven with the cultural identity of the black people in Detroit (I’m sure this is worldwide). She didn’t see herself as a Chinese American woman much to the ire of the director.

After watching the film and finishing the readings, I started to question my own position and contributions to the movements in which I support. While social media, with its ability to spread information, is certainly a necessary tool that aids the ongoing effort, is simply sharing a status enough? After seeing how deeply entrenched Grace Lee Boggs had been with the movement in Detroit, should I be ashamed as a person of color? Syfret state’s that the world cannot be changed by one person but that we can certainly all contribute to the way it’s shaped. By at least first making the commitment myself to be involved and spreading the word to those in my community, I can certainly help to inspire change. I look forward to having a continued conversation with my family after our weekly readings. You have to start somewhere.

In “Patriarchy, the System”, Allan Johnson reviews the idea of patriarchy as a framework. His article offers a sociological perspective on social inequalities and attempts to reason why they exist. He argues that most people don’t grasp the origins of patriarchy but that to some degree our society as a whole participates and contributes to it. Patriarchy is something that both men and women are involved in because we occupy “social positions”. It is because of this that it isn’t something that’s limited to an individual experience or constrained to an individual themselves. I think it’s important to point out that he suggests that patriarchy can exist with men being portrayed as villains as people tend to avoid going against the grain by subscribing to what society deems as normal.

Patriarchy is engrained into our culture; culture enforces gender roles, assigns power, and influences our values. He wrote that “Patriarchal societies are male-identified in that the core cultural ideas about what is good, desirable, preferable or normal are associated with how we think about men and masculinity”. With this in mind, it doesn’t automatically make men the oppressors or women the victims. This is a long-standing system that doesn’t require conscious participation by the participants. “As we participate in systems. Our lives are shaped by socialization and the path of least resistance.”

I think my classmate, Erika Jimenez, did a really great job capturing the essence of Johnson’s article in her snapshot. It shows two people (we can assume they are white male hands) weaving a web that has snared both men and women, of different races, in its grasp. I think this could be a visual representation go the system Johnson references in his article; we are all already caught in the web. Another classmate, Nazir O, also posted another great snapshot with a quote from Toni Morrison. She states that men are not the enemy but rather the concept of patriarchy is the groundwork for the way the world is run. I think this is another great summarization of Johnson’s article.

In the Audrey Lorde reading, I really saw a lot of my own personal struggles with oppression. Being a black man who also happens to be a member of the LGBTQ community, I echo her sentiment that we really can’t afford to fight one form of oppression. I choose the poem by Kemi Alabi as the author is describing a new emerging trend of ‘woke’ black people who identify themselves as Hotep’s. While its definition can essentially be translated to mean “peace’, this group of people is notoriously known for fostering hate towards the LGBTQ community. 

I tried to reflect on what I could do as a member of multiple groups of oppressed people (black people, LGTBQ) while also benefitting from the active oppression of women as a man in a patriarchal society. I must say, I don’t have an answer and these readings have certainly given me plenty to talk about amongst my inner circle of friends.

As a POC, I must say these readings were a little tough for me. In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, the author discussed her journey into understanding what White privilege is and how it is prevalent in her everyday life. She writes “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage. “ An unconsciousness acknowledgment of the privilege that isn’t spoken out loud about or written down on paper Well at least not currently. Every day I wake up, I’m reminded in various ways that I’m running a race in which I’m partially equipped to compete. Whether that be my neighbor’s shock or discontent when they say my face in our middle-class neighborhood or when I walk into an office space and realize I’m the only black male on-site. However, I had never considered what that quiet pressure of oppression might be like for another group of people who are currently being oppressed.

In Oppression, Marilyn Frye compares the oppression of women to a bird being kept in a cage. Sure the cage might be pretty and basic needs are provided for, but the motion and mobility of the birds inside are restricted. The lives of women have already been shaped and reduced by a system designed to benefit men. Frye writes “On the other hand, anything but the sunniest countenance exposes us to being perceived as a mean, bitter, angry or dangerous.” But women are supposed to be proud of their gilded cages and are deemed problematic when they question the system and the merit of the bars of society that lock them in. 

I’d like to say I am aware of the odds that are stacked against women and that I haven’t consciously been involved in anything that perpetuated their ongoing oppression. However, I hadn’t thought about the oppression being in the form of a system designed to keep men at an advantage over women. Their irony of a black man, living through the oppression of a system designed to benefit another race, missing out on the same system being designed to benefit men was not lost to me. Mcintosh wrote, “I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth.” 

I can only imagine what it must be like for women of color to navigate this ‘system’. I thought back on Feminist Politics and how the author mentioned that women of color fighting for women’s rights were not necessarily in the same boat as white women fighting for the same rights. How this created a double standard of living for the reformist feminists. I now wonder if this same thing happened as black people fought for civil rights; that black women were only partially supported since men’s rights would come first.