I'm a Sephardic Latina With An Intersectional Identity. That's Why I Oppose The Women's March.

[Behind the Aegis]

THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)

This coming Saturday, thousands of women across America will be marching in the 2019 Women’s March. But unlike the first march, many Jewish women have pledged not to attend this year, thanks to the March leaders’ ties to the anti-Semitic head of Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, and other reports of anti-Jewish sentiment.

Still, social media posts have been circulating across Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #jwocmarching, for Jewish women of color who are marching. The hashtag is part of a recent campaign led by Yavilah McCoy, a Jewish leader and founder of Ayecha who has been recently added to the Women’s March steering committee. McCoy and others have been urging Jewish representation in next week’s march, and specifically highlighting the voices and experiences of Jewish women of color in this contingency. The campaign released a nuanced, thoughtful statement which clearly outlines why many Jewish women of color are committed to the Women’s March as part of an intersectional struggle of solidarity against oppression.

“As Jewish women of color who live at the intersection of racism, sexism and anti-Semitism, and who are committed to standing against white supremacy, patriarchy and religious oppression in all its forms, we will play an integral role in the healing and unification of our communities and in the work of securing greater justice and freedom for us all,” the petition states.

I read this statement with respect for the experiences that lead its authors to write it. And in some ways, you might expect my identity as an intersectional feminist Latina immigrant from Argentina and a Sephardi Jew whose family hails from Arab lands should lead me to participate in the Women’s March, a movement predicated on solidarity for intersectional oppression and vulnerability.

But it is precisely my intersectional identity that leads me to abstain.

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[janterry]

1. I try to respect intersectional feminism

but at the end of the day, I'm just not there.

I listen, try to learn - and then retreat back into second wave feminism.

I'd say this - it's the absolutist language, the inability to work.....build bridges. You don't have to agree with everyone - to identify a larger goal and work towards that.

I don't know. Everyone needs to do what they think is best. However, I'll be at any woman's march near my home because I think it reflects a priority. There is much work to do, and this is just *one* place for me to work towards that.

There are other goals, and other concerns - I would not hide them, nor be unmindful of them.........but I'll still march.