Published by Davis Vanguard
The recent revelations about Cesar Chavez have forced many of us to confront a hard truth: the harm women, trans people, girls, and gender-expansive people experience in movement spaces is not incidental; it is patterned, protected, and too often ignored. This is not about one man. This is about a pervasive culture that permeates our communities, our homes, and our movements towards collective liberation and freedom.
For years, women, trans people, girls, and gender-expansive people of all ages have carried movements forward, often without recognition, safety, or shared power. Many of us have confronted the misogyny we experience directly; others have chosen silence to protect their safety, reputation, or the fear of being accused of fracturing movements. We have worked twice as hard for half, if any, of the recognition. We have been underpaid, overlooked in hiring, funding, and media coverage, and are often written out of history. We have been told that not taking credit for our own work is in the best interest of the movement, which has resulted in the extraction of our labor, experience, and expertise. We have tolerated working in “justice spaces” that have not been just to us, including those of us who are survivors.