Interrupting Oppression // Discussion Post

(originally posted 05/08 at wordpress)



by mae stephenson

A few weeks ago, Sally Eck gave an inspiring lecture on interrupting oppression as part of the Faculty Favorite Lecture Series that happens every Thursday. An interruption is something you do when you notice someone making an oppressive statement or action. It could be any action you take from stating something like, "That's sexist" and walking away to sitting down and having an in-depth conversation with someone about the effects of oppression in our society. The lecture made me think of my father, whom I've always had a tumultuous relationship with, but of course, love dearly. Despite our frequent disagreements, he tries really hard to maintain a relationship with me and truly listen when I call him out on an action I disagree with (even if he doesn't always understand my point of view).

I'm not the best "interrupter," especially when it comes to my father. I often get upset and show frustration instead of calmly explaining how his statement is oppressive. But recently, when I interrupted him after making a racist joke, he actually apologized and said that he hadn't said a particular racist phrase since I had called him out on it several months ago. He explained that it's hard to "unlearn" all the racist jokes he's heard since he was child. It was definitely inspiring. But it was nothing compared to the way he made me feel this past weekend.

Herstory: bell hooks

(originally posted 05/08 at wordpress)



by mae stephenson

bell hooks Born Gloria Jean Watkins on September 25, 1952 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. bell hooks uses lowercase letters for her name to shift focus from the author to the ideas within her writing.

bell hooks is arguably one of the most important authors of our time. A self-described "Black woman intellectual, revolutionary activist," "cultural critic," and "advocate of feminism," hooks has authored over thirty books and dozens of articles focusing on the interconnectedness of race, class, and gender oppression and domination. She coined the phrase "white supremacist capitalist patriarchy" to describe these intersections. She also writes with an important and somewhat unique emphasis on self-love. In her dedication to ending class oppression she uses a writing style accessible for people outside of Academia and makes appearances on television and radio programs. Some of her titles include Ain’t I a Woman?: Black Women and Feminism, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, Where We Stand: Class Matters, Teaching to Transgress: Education As the Practice of Freedom, and The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. In addition, she's written a handful of children's books including Be Boy Buzz and Happy to be Nappy after having a difficult time finding children's books that didn't enforce patriarchal notions of boyhood and books that taught young black girls to be self-loving, respectively.