Are you a passenger or driver on the road to body liberation?
Last week, we talked about staying in our lane. That lane is actually a road that ends at Body Liberation and there are many vehicles that drive in that lane. The bus that I drive is Sex Education, but if you look around, you can see many vehicles on the road to Body Liberation. "Anti-racism," "Fat Liberation," and "Disability Justice" are just a few.
Remember that body liberation is only liberating if it is for all bodies.
Now, in my Sex Ed Bus (I'm starting to really like this vehicle), I'm the driver because I have experience with my particular obstacles. However, in most of these other vehicles, I'm a passenger because of my privilege. I do not know the road well enough to drive these other cars because I have not experienced that particular type of oppression. So for example, it is not my role to drive the Anti-Racism truck or the Disability Justice van...but it IS my role to listen and believe the drivers when they tell me their experiences. My role is to buy the fuel so the car continues to move forward. To help the drivers rest and recuperate. It is my role to encourage others to get in. It is my role to get out and push the car from behind when it's stuck. It is my role to contact and vote for people who are in charge of creating the road. But I still do not ever drive this car.
Marginalized and oppressed bodies deeply know the road they have had to travel and can create the directions for how to get out. The privileged bodies can provide the resources to power the car and support the drivers. (Marginalized bodies can be drivers or passengers, but it's best if privileged bodies stick to being passengers.)
Both passengers and drivers are absolutely necessary. However we often rely on the marginalized bodies to provide both the directions and the power. This slows the car.
There is one more thing you should know about the road to Body Liberation. ALL of these cars are moving away from one origination city, and that huge metropolis is called "White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy." (A phrase popularized from the wonderful bell hooks.). All of the vehicles are driving away from here on the road toward Body Liberation.
So yes, this is my lane. And I'm recruiting passengers because this is your lane too.
So what vehicles are you driving today, and which vehicles are you using your privilege to power as a passenger?
ROOTING FOR YOU IN ALL THE WAYS YOU MOVE TOWARD BODY LIBERATION.
Celeste
SPOTLIGHT
My dearest Fort Worth friends! If you posted a black square in the summer on your Instagram, here is an opportunity to throw your support behind an awesome candidate for mayor of our fair city. Deborah Peoples has my vote because she has excellent business experience as the Vice President of AT&T, she has wonderful community building experience as the Chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party and she's helped our county reach new levels of civic engagement through community outreach. (And as a cherry on top, she is a graduate of my Alma Mater, Texas Woman's University.). Okay folks, election day is TOMORROW, May 1st. Historically, only 10% of Forth Worth voters head out to vote in mayoral elections even though local elections affect your actual living life more than general elections. The candidates for runoff are decided by only a few hundred votes. (In 1997, one of the candidates for Fort Worth city council won by TEN freaking votes!) Polls open at 7am and close at 7pm. Please put your vote where your black square was. You can make a difference in the direction of leadership in this town.
ONLINE COURSES
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