ACPA NOLA 2023 Conference Presentation powerpoint

Exploring the Intersections of Identity within Student-Led Movements

1. Exploring the Intersections of Identity Within Student-Led Movements: A Literature Review and Discussion Christi Owiye // Assistant Director, Undergraduate WSE Student Engagement, Johns Hopkins University Isaac Hollis // Assistant Director, Center for Diversity and Inclusion-Multicultural Affairs, Johns Hopkins University

2. Land Acknowledgment We humbly acknowledge that Johns Hopkins University is located on the traditional and contemporary homelands of indigenous peoples. Our campus resides on unceded lands of the Piscataway and Susquehannock peoples. We recognize the enduring presence of more than 7,000 indigenous peoples in Baltimore City, including the Piscataway, Lumbee, and Eastern Band of Cherokee community members. As we gather from places across the country and globe, we honor and recognize indigenous people of our homelands.

3. Inclusive Language #ACPA23 provides an opportunity to discuss concepts that span a variety of audiences and contexts in higher, post-secondary, and tertiary education. As such, we ask that session participants: Recognize individual gender pronoun use Utilize contemporary and relevant language around social identities Utilize language that recognizes varying abilities and is not ableist Utilize language inclusive of diverse global contexts Utilize this space for developmental and educational support of attendees who may be unfamiliar with inclusive language practices

4. Order of Presentation Race and LGBTQIA+ Students Race and Women’s and Gender Rights Shared Themes Small Group Discussion Limitations Resources Conclusion

5. Race and LGBTQIA+ Students [Photograph of person holding a Black Trans Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, Black Queer Lives Matter poster]. (2020). https://www.redefy.org/stories/how-black-lives-matter-protests-shaped-pride-month Student-Led Movements and Demonstrations Within Higher Education

6. “We Are Not Victims”: Unmasking Black Queer and Trans* Student Activism at HBCUs The authors explore the ways Black Queer and Trans* students make their voice heard on HBCU campuses. They acknowledge the conservative nature of HBCUs that results in a certain type of Blackness being promoted at HBCUs. Howard University Lavender Fund: Created by graduate student Christopher N. Cross to provide programming that confronts and challenges queer and trans* antagonism on campus. Mobley Jr, S. D., Johnson, R. W., Sewell, C. J., Johnson, J. M., & Neely, A. J. (2021). “We Are Not Victims”: Unmasking Black Queer and Trans* Student Activism at HBCUs. About Campus, 26 (3), 24-28.

7. “We Are Not Victims”: Unmasking Black Queer and Trans* Student Activism at HBCUs (cont.) Spelman Spring 2018 Demonstration: The demonstration was a result of queer and trans* students were receiving threats on campus and harrassed by campus police. Students then went on to demand a safer campus climate for queer and trans* students. #PottieandPolicy: Morehouse, in collaboration with Spelman and Clark Atlanta, started a demonstration where students posted gender neutral bathroom signs on top of male and female restrooms in Morehouse & Spelman. Mobley Jr, S. D., Johnson, R. W., Sewell, C. J., Johnson, J. M., & Neely, A. J. (2021). “We Are Not Victims”: Unmasking Black Queer and Trans* Student Activism at HBCUs. About Campus, 26 (3), 24-28.

8. “We Are Not Victims”: Unmasking Black Queer and Trans* Student Activism at HBCUs (cont.) “The constant expectation for queer and trans* students to lead change efforts, organize demonstrations, and serve as the primary force for challenging anti-Blackness and various other forms of queer/trans* antagonism in order to offset toxic campus climates is unfair” (p. 28). Mobley Jr, S. D., Johnson, R. W., Sewell, C. J., Johnson, J. M., & Neely, A. J. (2021). “We Are Not Victims”: Unmasking Black Queer and Trans* Student Activism at HBCUs. About Campus, 26 (3), 24-28.

9. Intersectionality in student movements: Black queer womxn and nonbinary activists in South Africa’s 2015–2016 protests The author zooms in on the involvement and thoughts of Black queer womxn and nonbinary students in the movements Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall in South Africa that focus on the country post apartheid and its transition to democracy. Black queer womxn and nonbinary students were the directors of the movement work. They attempted to organize these spaces using a non-hierarchical and flat structure. Khan, K. (2017). Intersectionality in student movements: Black queer womxn and nonbinary activists in South Africa’s 2015–2016 protests. Agenda, 31 (3-4), 110-121.

10. Intersectionality in student movements: Black queer womxn and nonbinary activists in South Africa’s 2015–2016 protests (cont.) Black queer individuals felt alone in the movement. There was a constant push back against patriachy, homophobia, and transphobia which was shown by a demonstration on Nelson Mandela Day (2015) to combat the silence over eight LGBTQIA people being raped and or murdered in South Africa in that particular month. Khan, K. (2017). Intersectionality in student movements: Black queer womxn and nonbinary activists in South Africa’s 2015–2016 protests. Agenda, 31 (3-4), 110-121.

11. Intersectionality in student movements: Black queer womxn and nonbinary activists in South Africa’s 2015–2016 protests (cont.) “ Blackness comes in different bodies. [Intersectionality] is to liberate black bodies no matter how you are packaged. For me, it is like, okay, we are black together and we are struggling together. And I understand that your freedom has a little more layers than mine has. But because I understand the pain of my freedom and I don’t want to be free only in two categories and then leave out the third. Then I’m not really free. And I understand for you it is the same thing … That is my idea of intersectionality, that our struggles are interlinked” (p. 111) Khan, K. (2017). Intersectionality in student movements: Black queer womxn and nonbinary activists in South Africa’s 2015–2016 protests. Agenda, 31 (3-4), 110-121.

12. Race and Women’s and Gender Rights An activist participates in the Women’s March on Jan. 20, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. (Sarah Morris/Getty Images) Student-Led Demonstrations Within Higher Education

13. Student Activism in the Academy : Its Struggles and Promise In this book, each chapter looks to explore the ways in which student activists engaged in movements for change, while exploring how their identities impacted that engagement. The authors found out that Black and Latina women students were often the first women on their campuses to link racism, patriarchy, and sexism, and their white woman counterparts would then follow. DeVitis, J. L., & Pietro A. Sasso. (2019). Student Activism in the Academy : Its Struggles and Promise. Myers Education Press.

14. Student Activism in the Academy : Its Struggles and Promise (cont.) “In the 1960s, “not through college courses on women’s needs, but out of concern with the ideals of democracy came the unexpected awakening of feminist consciousness. Black women were the first to rebel against their subordinate roles in the civil rights movement, in 1964; soon white women protested against similar treatment” (Solomon, 1985, p. 202). Moreno (2009) highlights the development of Las Hijas de Cuauhtemoc at California State University, Long Beach, in 1970 as a means for Chicana activists to expand “on the movement’s analysis of oppression, contending that sexism and patriarchy were integrally linked to the struggle against racism and economic exploitation” (p. 31). Roth (2004) echoes this recognition that Black women and Chicana activists throughout the 1960s and 70s intentionally maintained connections with their ethnic cultural communities and men of color even as they addressed sexist oppression and explored new connections with White feminist activists and other women of color.” (p. 124) DeVitis, J. L., & Pietro A. Sasso. (2019). Student Activism in the Academy : Its Struggles and Promise. Myers Education Press.

15. Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary: Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women’s Student Activism This book focuses on the relationships between Spelman College professor Howard Zinn, and his Black women students, who would later be named “mothers of the movement,” including Alice Walker and Marian Wright Edelman. Professor Zinn’s diary is presented with cultural and historical contexts added in. Cohen, R. (2018). Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary : Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women’s Student Activism. University of Georgia Press.

16. Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary: Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women’s Student Activism (cont.) A reader quickly sees that before there were terms such as “intersectional feminism,” Black women students at Spelman College were shaping and practicing its core tenements. Black women students were aware that they were not centered in the Civil Rights Movement, but language to describe this was still being formed. Cohen, R. (2018). Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary : Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women’s Student Activism. University of Georgia Press.

17. Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary: Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women’s Student Activism (cont.) “All this is further complicated by the fact that the Spelman revolt came before second-wave feminism had invented such new terms as “sexism” with which to describe and critique gender discrimination. So the revolt’s feminist character was implicit rather than explicit.” Cohen, R. (2018). Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary : Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women’s Student Activism. University of Georgia Press.

18. Commonalities in the Research The similarities between Black LGBTQIA+ student activism and Black women’s student activism A poster reads, “Black Trans Lives Matter.” Getty Images

19. Choosing Full(er) Identities Emotional labor of Black students, particularly Black queer and Black women in response to lack of justice Lack of visibility and representation in Black liberation spaces Choosing to buck the system

20. Small Group Discussion Within the student-led movements on your campuses, what concerns, demands, and issues are students bringing up? How does intersectionality show up in student-led movements on your campuses?

21. Small Group Discussion Within the student-led movements on your campuses what can you do to provide resources/strategies to help students be effective while protesting? How do you show up? How can learning the history of student protests impact your practice? (continued)

22. Limitations of the Research Originally, we intended to approach this presentation in a different way. The overall research existing on student activism often fails to address intersecting identities. For example, a text may explore the feminist wave on campus, but does not mention how Black and Brown queer women show up in that movement.

23. Resources Spaces to support practitioners supporting students. Multicultural affairs offices Student leadership development offices Diversity and inclusion offices Racial justice offices and departments Womxn and gender studies departments and offices Counseling centers Public safety offices *

24. Conclusion Student-led movements have existed for as long as higher education has existed. As student affairs practitioners, understanding the histories of student activism aids in becoming a more thoughtful and culturally competent educator. While there were limitations, the research available did show that intersecting identities do impact student-led movements, as students work with and against dominant cultures to effectively create change.

25. References Cohen, R. (2018). Howard Zinn’s Southern Diary: Sit-ins, Civil Rights, and Black Women’s Student Activism. University of Georgia Press. DeVitis, J. L., & Pietro A. Sasso. (2019). Student Activism in the Academy: Its Struggles and Promise. Myers Education Press. Khan, K. (2017). Intersectionality in student movements: Black queer womxn and nonbinary activists in South Africa’s 2015–2016 protests. Agenda, 31 (3-4), 110-121. Mobley Jr, S. D., Johnson, R. W., Sewell, C. J., Johnson, J. M., & Neely, A. J. (2021). “We Are Not Victims”: Unmasking Black Queer and Trans* Student Activism at HBCUs. About Campus, 26 (3), 24-28.

26. Exploring the Intersections of Identity Within Student-Led Movements: A Literature Review and Discussion Christi Owiye // Assistant Director, Undergraduate WSE Student Engagement, Johns Hopkins University Isaac Hollis // Assistant Director, Center for Diversity and Inclusion-Multicultural Affairs, Johns Hopkins University