We are now 39 days into this series, and today we are confronting a critical truth: Marginalized is not synonymous with Black.
There’s a tendency in social justice spaces to use "marginalized" as a catchall, but what often happens is that whiteness remains centered, even in conversations about oppression. When we talk about marginalized communities, we must recognize that race is the first and most visible axis of oppression. Black and Indigenous communities must be explicitly named and prioritized—not just included under a broad, diluted term.
This conversation isn’t just about representation. It’s about influence. It’s about power. It’s about shifting the way we build community so that we don’t replicate the same exclusionary dynamics we claim to fight against.
Too often, white-bodied people become the faces and voices of movements—whether it’s LGBTQIA+ rights, neurodiversity advocacy, or feminist spaces. This erasure of intersectionality is violence. If your movement does not center Black voices, it is incomplete.
Lessons & Community Insights
Today’s discussion unpacked how supremacy culture infiltrates even our justice-oriented spaces. Some key takeaways:
✔️ Representation without lived experience is performative. Who is actually making decisions? Who holds power?
✔️ Creating spaces of trust requires action, not just words. Brave spaces must be rooted in accountability, not retaliation.
✔️ Decentering privilege means interrogating how whiteness continues to dominate activist spaces. Privilege discourse must shift to leverage—because privilege only exists when others are actively oppressed.
This is the work. If today’s discussion resonates, now is the time to deepen your engagement.
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