“Intersectionality is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects. It’s not simply that there’s a race problem here, a gender problem here, and a class or LBGTQ problem there. Many times that framework erases what happens to people who are subject to all of these things.”
— Kimberlé Crenshaw
Patriarchy, white supremacy, heteronormativity are the ways we’re taught to understand others as either the “default” or “outsiders.” Thinking inside this paradigm keeps us tethered to a system that doesn’t serve us.
Intersectionality is a framework that helps us understand the varying ways in which our identities dictate our lived experiences. It is a prism that allows us to see how various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. We all face different sets of challenges based on our race, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, and more among the cornucopia of identifiers that make us human. Intersectionality not only makes exclusions visible, it also suggests how interventions might be reframed to better include multiply marginalized people. It encourages advocates and policymakers to ask: “How do my strategies address people who belong to multiple groups at once?”
Intersectionality pushes groups to move beyond single-issue organizing and recognize how inequalities intersect within communities. It has been indispensable in helping many of us uncover unwritten histories, analyze overlooked social problems, and address failures in human rights. From Black women fighting the twin threats of state violence and high maternal mortality rates to queer youth of color protesting the censorship of LGBTQ+ and anti-racist books, an intersectional framework can empower us all to push towards liberation.
Today, we invite you to contemplate how your identity in its full complexity may affect your experience, as well as those around you. And to consider how you might use the prism of intersectionality to see and think differently about real world problems you encounter.
TODAY’S PRACTICE
Watch The Urgency of Intersectionality with Kimberlé Crenshaw.
Reflect in your journal: What intersections does my Blackness cross?
CALLS TO ACTION
ADD the 2026 Google Liberation Calendar to your own calendar.
JOIN our WhatsApp community to engage w/ fellow participants!
DOWNLOAD the Liberation Table Guide.