On Being Brave.

“But Some Of Us Are Brave” is a seminal feminist text. In the book, many of the writers speak to the experience of living in the world as someone who is both Black and a woman. The feminist fight is White, and the fight against racism is male. Black women, and other Women of Colour, are left out of both struggles. As an anti-racist activist and educator, I have been in many anti-racist spaces. As a woman who has written about gender oppression, I have been in multiple feminist spaces. Within the second, the prevalence of White people, especially White women, continues to confound me. They come, they speak, they monopolise, they demand education, they seek clarification, they act wounded.

These are common occurrences in most feminist spaces because they are catered for White women by White women. Women of colour are seen as add-ons because White women are begrudgingly forced to think about the bad publicity of an all-White event, and seek a few Brown and Black tokens to colour up their events. These spaces are not designed for our comfort and often, Women of Colour leave these feminists spaces because they are not safe for us. 

When it comes to anti-racist spaces, it is the turn of the Men of Colour to dominate. It is a space devised for them and utilised by them to address their needs and issues. The specific problems that Women of Colour face, in the intersections of race and gender, are often dismissed or subsumed under a larger anti-racist umbrella and we are required to wait for our turn to speak, to be heard, to be acknowledged as people in our own right. The message of these spaces is clear: feminism is for White women, and anti-racism is for Men of Colour. 

But some of us continue to be brave. 

That is what we are the mainstream did on February 29 with International Women’s Day: we are the mainstream (#IWDWATM2020), by creating a space that was inclusive of all Women of Colour. A space that was wholly ours, designed by us and for us. It is difficult for me to point to one significant moment in the day because the entire event seems significant to me. What other event could we talk about our problems? Or just sit with our sisters and know we feel the same? Where else could we just...be? 

More. 

That is my takeaway from the event: More. More of us, more of our voices, and our art and our expression and our truth. More of us—much more of us–all the time, everywhere. It says a lot about the state of feminism and anti-racism in Australia that 2020 was the first time an event only for Women of Colour occurred in this country. We cannot wait years for another. We need to be brave, now more than ever, and assert our right to tell our stories and to share them with other Women of Colour. 

#IWDWATM2020 is just the  beginning. 

When it comes to anti-racist spaces, it is the turn of the Men of Colour to dominate. It is a 

space devised for them and utilised by them to address their needs and issues. The 

specific problems that Women of Colour face, in the intersections of race and gender, are 

often dismissed or subsumed under a larger anti-racist umbrella and we are required to 

wait for our turn to speak, to be heard, to be acknowledged as people in our own right. 

The message of these spaces is clear: feminism is for White women, and anti-racism is for 

Men of Colour. 

But some of us continue to be brave. 

That is what we are the mainstream did on February 29 with International Women’s Day: we are the mainstream (#IWDWATM2020), by creating a space that was inclusive of all Women of Colour. A space that is wholly ours, designed by us and for us. It is difficult for me to point to one significant moment in the day because the entire event seems significant to me. What other event could we talk about our problems? Or just sit with our sisters and know we feel the same? Where else could we just...be? 

More. 

That is my takeaway from the event: More. More of us, more of our voices, and our 

art and our expression and our truth. More of us—much more of us–all the time, 

everywhere. 

It says a lot about the state of feminism and anti-racism in Australia that 2020 was the first 

time an event only for Women of Colour occurred in this country. We cannot wait years for 

another. We need to be brave, now more than ever, and assert our right to tell our stories 

and to share them with other Women of Colour. 

#IWDWATM2020 is just the  beginning.