• What is meant by the following quote?: “We might use our position at the bottom to make a clear leap into revolutionary action.  If black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”
• What does the Combahee River collective mean by “identity politics”? How do you see this operating in Paris is Burning?
• What do race and gender have to do with capitalism?

I think that quote means that Black woman as a whole march in everyone’s rallies and marches because that’s how strong they are as a whole. They don’t just fight for one cause that benefits them they fight all causes, and until everyone is freed from under the Foot of the systematic oppression as it were then no one is truly free. Side note the treatment of black woman in America was and continues to be in my opinion disgusting. We can go as far back as when it was documented that Doctors in America would not give pregnant black woman the proper or if any medications during child birth because they did not feel pain as much as everyone else. Or how the fashion of black woman is ghetto or urban until it becomes a trendy fashion show catwalk idea , and then its called brilliant or new age.

Identity politics refers to the connection between social issues such as racial discrimination, homelessness that plague a certain group whether it be female or Gay. Allot of the issues we have been reading about surround particular mistreatments of certain groups are shown within this film. I have actually heard about this film when i was younger and actually love the soundtrack . That is the type of music i would hear in my house growing up. I never even knew house music was popularized in gay clubs i just knew i loved the music and that some of it reminded me of freestyle music which i also love. Identity politics was captured in this film by them as group having this common bond , this gathering of people that are in one way or another dealing with similar nightmarish social issues, childhood trauma, not being excepted for who they are by there family and society.

Race and gender are forever intertwined with politics . In the eyes of politics it enables people to be put into certain social classes i believe. Its your modern day caste system. Which by design exploits the underprivileged. It just so happens that the underprivileged are usually brown people, female , or gay. Ill never forget that reading where the quote basically told us that we are the cogs in the machine and that there really is no big corporate scary devouring beast its only us, we are that machine . If that’s the case then this quote

If black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”

Should be a no brainer to us since if one is persecuted then we are all persecuted.