Wow, I just read this with my breakfast and my head is spinning. Your writing is wonderful, so layered and thought-provoking.. I'm going to subscribe immediately and look forward to reading more since this was written, not least to find out if you did find some sense of community here...
Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it. It's been slow going, but yes, I have found community here. Most especially, there are a lot of neurodivergent folks, and also a lot of queer folks that is starting to feel like community here.
Thank you Louisa for the kind reflections. It's always encouraging to me when I meet other people who value this concept of the both/and of oppression, in which we can be targets struggling for our own liberation at the same time that we have a responsibility to recognize where we have privilege. I truly believe this is the best approach to working towards liberation for all of us. Thank you.
Such an eloquent exposition of the multiple layers of privilege and oppression.
"Being oppressed does not ethically excuse any of us from acknowledging our complicity in perpetuating forms of oppression that do not target us." -- Such an honest truth that's almost too painful to look squarely at. Indeed, we are all complicit one way or another, whether intentional or not.
You brought up such a good point about using whatever privilege that we have, within the framework of our own oppression, for the common good. In my case, I am aware that I have the privilege of language -- that I can express aspects of my culture to the English-speaking public, and be a bridge to raise awareness. This is a gift and a responsibility, and I hope to use it well and wisely.
I think you have a gift in seeing so many different angles and layers in systemwide oppression and injustices, and calling them out with courage, mirror to us that we might have missed.
I also appreciate your introduction of Wong's ideas and quotes. Very meaningful and encouraging.
Wow, your post really hit home for me. I love how you tackle ableism head-on and dive into its messy intersections with other forms of oppression. Your honesty about the struggles within social justice circles is so refreshing. Alice Wong's idea about the cyclical nature of hope and resistance totally resonates—it's all about community and pushing forward together. Your mix of rigorous self-inquiry and balancing the intellectual with the emotional is spot-on.
Also, your take on privilege and oppression being so intertwined challenges us all to do better. Embracing neurodivergent perspectives like yours just adds so much depth to the fight for justice. What a great piece. Your voice is a crucial part of this ongoing conversation, and I'm grateful for your dedication and insight ❤️
Thanks for the comment! I hope that the hard hit you feel helps you feel at least a bit less isolated. Reading your comment does that for me, and I thank you for that. 🙏🏼
Really looking forward to reading more from you! So much of this resonated with me. And now I'm going to be contemplating what you said about being raised by parents who valued logic and intelligence and whatnot.
I had a hyper-religious Evangelical upbringing, which I rejected at an early age, followed by over a decade of deep involvement as a leader in the Atheist Movement. My upbringing was basically the opposite of yours, rooted in emotion and spirit and faith and rejection of worldly things like science and logic. And I've already been looking back on how the years spent in the Atheist Movement was a reaction to that, and I tried very much to deny the emotional reality of being human, stuffed that shit way, way down, and probably ended up coming off to many as a kind of logical and unemotional Vulcan.
And that was harmful, to myself and to my loved ones who didn’t know they were loved because I felt shame and embarassment for showing, even HAVING, emotions for so long. Emotional expression was like a weakness I had to hide.
In recent years, after I put literal, physical distance between myself and that world I inhabited, I have felt myself becoming whole in a way I've not experienced in over 40 years, allowing myself permission to be both a person with deep and intense emotions and a highly intelligent and logical person, too.
So anyhow, thanks for sharing your stories and getting this queer, agender, multiply-disabled, neuro"divergent" white person's neurons all fired up this morning!
Hey, thanks so much for your feedback and for sharing your experience, too! It's so sad had how many of us have spent years just trying to recalibrate to a healthy balance after having been raised in an atmosphere that favors one mode of experience and interpretation, and tossing all others on the garbage heap.
I think I'm on the verge of writing again. I have immense challenges with physical/contemplative energy, and also with executive function. But I keep trying, so we'll see...
I have these challenges, too. It's why sometimes I write one post in a month and the next month I kick off with 3 posts in althe first week. I offer no set expectations to my readers and I am making peace with myself that I am no less valuable just because I am inconsistent. I am disabled and very, very tired of trying to pretend I'm not or to push myself to meet others' unreasonable expectations.
Yes! That's what I try to remind myself, too: it's internalized ableism that leads me to believe that I should hold myself to the standards of a non-disabled, productivity-obsessed culture.
Laura, thank you for taking time to write this. Your depth and language is so powerful and a gift to me as I'm always wanting to get more skillful and inclusive in my work. I'm so grateful for you and our friendship.
Wow, I just read this with my breakfast and my head is spinning. Your writing is wonderful, so layered and thought-provoking.. I'm going to subscribe immediately and look forward to reading more since this was written, not least to find out if you did find some sense of community here...
Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it. It's been slow going, but yes, I have found community here. Most especially, there are a lot of neurodivergent folks, and also a lot of queer folks that is starting to feel like community here.
Thank you Louisa for the kind reflections. It's always encouraging to me when I meet other people who value this concept of the both/and of oppression, in which we can be targets struggling for our own liberation at the same time that we have a responsibility to recognize where we have privilege. I truly believe this is the best approach to working towards liberation for all of us. Thank you.
Such an eloquent exposition of the multiple layers of privilege and oppression.
"Being oppressed does not ethically excuse any of us from acknowledging our complicity in perpetuating forms of oppression that do not target us." -- Such an honest truth that's almost too painful to look squarely at. Indeed, we are all complicit one way or another, whether intentional or not.
You brought up such a good point about using whatever privilege that we have, within the framework of our own oppression, for the common good. In my case, I am aware that I have the privilege of language -- that I can express aspects of my culture to the English-speaking public, and be a bridge to raise awareness. This is a gift and a responsibility, and I hope to use it well and wisely.
I think you have a gift in seeing so many different angles and layers in systemwide oppression and injustices, and calling them out with courage, mirror to us that we might have missed.
I also appreciate your introduction of Wong's ideas and quotes. Very meaningful and encouraging.
Wow, your post really hit home for me. I love how you tackle ableism head-on and dive into its messy intersections with other forms of oppression. Your honesty about the struggles within social justice circles is so refreshing. Alice Wong's idea about the cyclical nature of hope and resistance totally resonates—it's all about community and pushing forward together. Your mix of rigorous self-inquiry and balancing the intellectual with the emotional is spot-on.
Also, your take on privilege and oppression being so intertwined challenges us all to do better. Embracing neurodivergent perspectives like yours just adds so much depth to the fight for justice. What a great piece. Your voice is a crucial part of this ongoing conversation, and I'm grateful for your dedication and insight ❤️
Wow, thanks so much for the affirming feedback! I really love your writing, so it's especially nice to get this feedback from you!
Thank you 😊
This. Hit. So. Hard.
I'm an autistic, ND, queer, un/under-employed, and disabled Black woman and daughter of Nigerian immigrants.
I know I'm a year late to this party, but thank you. Saving this post. 🙏🏾❤️🙏🏾
Thanks for the comment! I hope that the hard hit you feel helps you feel at least a bit less isolated. Reading your comment does that for me, and I thank you for that. 🙏🏼
Really looking forward to reading more from you! So much of this resonated with me. And now I'm going to be contemplating what you said about being raised by parents who valued logic and intelligence and whatnot.
I had a hyper-religious Evangelical upbringing, which I rejected at an early age, followed by over a decade of deep involvement as a leader in the Atheist Movement. My upbringing was basically the opposite of yours, rooted in emotion and spirit and faith and rejection of worldly things like science and logic. And I've already been looking back on how the years spent in the Atheist Movement was a reaction to that, and I tried very much to deny the emotional reality of being human, stuffed that shit way, way down, and probably ended up coming off to many as a kind of logical and unemotional Vulcan.
And that was harmful, to myself and to my loved ones who didn’t know they were loved because I felt shame and embarassment for showing, even HAVING, emotions for so long. Emotional expression was like a weakness I had to hide.
In recent years, after I put literal, physical distance between myself and that world I inhabited, I have felt myself becoming whole in a way I've not experienced in over 40 years, allowing myself permission to be both a person with deep and intense emotions and a highly intelligent and logical person, too.
So anyhow, thanks for sharing your stories and getting this queer, agender, multiply-disabled, neuro"divergent" white person's neurons all fired up this morning!
Hey, thanks so much for your feedback and for sharing your experience, too! It's so sad had how many of us have spent years just trying to recalibrate to a healthy balance after having been raised in an atmosphere that favors one mode of experience and interpretation, and tossing all others on the garbage heap.
I think I'm on the verge of writing again. I have immense challenges with physical/contemplative energy, and also with executive function. But I keep trying, so we'll see...
I have these challenges, too. It's why sometimes I write one post in a month and the next month I kick off with 3 posts in althe first week. I offer no set expectations to my readers and I am making peace with myself that I am no less valuable just because I am inconsistent. I am disabled and very, very tired of trying to pretend I'm not or to push myself to meet others' unreasonable expectations.
Yes! That's what I try to remind myself, too: it's internalized ableism that leads me to believe that I should hold myself to the standards of a non-disabled, productivity-obsessed culture.
Exactly. I struggle so much to resist the internalized ableism. It's hard!
Laura, thank you for taking time to write this. Your depth and language is so powerful and a gift to me as I'm always wanting to get more skillful and inclusive in my work. I'm so grateful for you and our friendship.
Hey, thanks Hala! I'm so happy that you find my words helpful!