Identity is used as a tool to define political claims, promote political ideologies, or motivate and orient social and political action, typically in the context of inequity or injustice, with the goal of establishing group distinctiveness and membership and attaining power and respect. I believe that political education, organizing, and reading are the only ways for people to comprehend that this system does not serve the working class and poor. These individuals with a “seat at the table” have access to enormous wealth. They already have a lot of power. These individuals uphold and protect the interests of the ruling class. The dream they’re selling us is not the dream of the working class or the poor, and the only way to unlearn it is via political education. Alicia Garza, from what I gather, has a Marxist philosophy and aspires to work toward socialism, so how did we get to the point where Black Lives Matter has gone to the Grammys and become a co-opted capitalist thing was always another question I eventually had. Activists have used Tamir Rice’s name in advertisements and public performances, but his mother has come out to inquire and demand where the actual justice and discourse about police brutality and racial violence lies beyond the staged actions. There are activists profiteering from Black Lives Matter, which divides us and misses the entire objective of the liberation struggle.
In the reading “Too Latina to be Black, Too Black To Be Latina”, by Aleichia Williams it was clear that understanding your identity alongside how it is perceived in the light of social construct in highly fundamental, Williams speak about her in depth perspective on what is was like to sometimes feel locked into a specific box based off what she may look like and even speak like. In the reading “Too Latina to be Black, Too Black To Be Latina”, by Aleichia Williams it was clear that understanding your identity alongside how it is perceived in the light of social construct in highly fundamental, Williams speak about her in depth perspective on what is was like to sometimes feel locked into a specific box based off what she may look like and even speak like. But instead of allowing these mere minded factors negatively impact her she uses them with an emphasis on the amount of control every other individual who may be in the same situation has. Stating, “I’m learning to embrace every aspect of my identity and not let small minds put me in a box that just doesn’t fit. I’m Latina. I’m black. Also, I’m human. No one can take that from me.” (Williams) Instead of allowing these mere minded factors negatively impact her she uses them with an emphasis on the amount of control every other individual who may be in the same situation has and using that power correctly is what matters.
One aspect I’d like to look more depth of may be woman’s workplace equality. While women continue to strive for representation and acknowledgment in the workplace, there are difficulties that go beyond the office. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are overrepresented in businesses such as education, healthcare, and hospitality, while they are underrepresented in fields such as software development, law, and agriculture.
