Tulane University Professor of Political Science Melissa Harris-Perry discussed the overlapping lived experiences and the shared struggle of marginalized groups in the United States with an audience in Cohen Auditorium last night.
Harris-Perry began her lecture, titled "Michelle Bachmann v. Michelle Obama: Gender, Difference, and Power," by referencing the hotly debated case of Georgia inmate Troy Davis. Davis was executed Wednesday after years of public protests and demonstrations for Supreme Court appeals as well as a recent increase of social media activism and support surrounding his case.
"It's hard to think about how to do the work of social activism, after a night of social justice failure" remarked Harris-Perry. "To be an American is to be Troy Davis, and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parolees and The Georgia Supreme Court that executed Troy Davis," she said, prefacing the evening's topic of the intersections of the American identity and shared struggle.
The lecture, sponsored and organized by the Tufts Social Justice Leadership Initiative (TSJLI), focused on the intersections of struggles engaged in by different identity groups, through the lens of recognition, respectability and redistribution in the formation of American identity. Harris-Perry highlighted the politics of identities and experiences, pointing to the importance of class, race, gender, sexual orientation and historical awareness.
Harris-Perry writes a monthly column in The Nation magazine and is a regular contributor to MSNBC's "The Rachel MaddowShow."
Citing revolutionaries from W.E.B. Dubois to AudreLorde, she examined the peculiar nature of social activism from the standpoint of historically marginalized social groups, including people of color, members of the LGBT community and women.
The recurring theme of shared community struggle permeated the conversation, along with questions on "how it feels to be the problem."
"I want us to be clear that our struggles are worked out on real bodies," she said, offering, through PowerPoint slides, pictures of human bodies mutilated by whippings and lynchings.
"The struggle for the vote happened on human bodies. These struggles aren't theoretical … the work of women and feminists is a reminder that the personal is political, is sanctioned by the realities of violence in a larger community," she said.
Harris-Perry cited the split nature of the American social-political conscious, with several examples of seemingly opposite realities. "In 2008, we won ‘big' on race. With our left hand, we chose a president of interracial birth, and with the right hand, we chose to pass Proposition 8," she said.
"It's messy and hard to do the work of the struggle. We are responsible for one another, because we understand our interconnectedness," Harris-Perry said. "When we struggle to be interconnected, it's called citizenship."
Last year, the TSJLI Committee brought social activist Tim Wise to the Hill to lecture on the significance of understanding racial identity. With last year's lecture considered a success by organizers, the committee began to search for a new speaker to address what they described as all-too-prevalent issues in society and at Tufts.
"We worked for over six months on this. It's difficult to get a large committee to decide on a speaker and topic," said Latino Center Director and TSJLI Committee member Ruben Salinsa-Stern. "We haven't had a speaker on class, and Dr. Perry is very visible in the public eye."
The audience included students, Tufts administrators and members of the Boston community. Susan Jones, a student at Bunker Hill Community College, admitted to skipping class to attend Harris-Perry's lecture. "She's worth it," Jones said.
After fielding several questions during the question and answer portion of the evening from audience members regarding topics such as white guilt on campus and the victimization of those who have been wronged throughout history, Harris-Perry signed copies of her newest book, "Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America" (2011).
"There's a sort of collective social guilt and shame members of a marginalized community may feel," said Harris-Perry. "For communities of color, it happens that this fictive kinship operates more regularly."
After the lecture, Harris-Perry offered up advice to activist members of the Tufts campus. "The point is that, just because you lose a battle doesn't mean you have to get discouraged. One of the most difficult things for a young activist is to be comfortable with a loss, so try to recognize that when you start getting push back, you're on the right track," she said.
