Woke 2 Must Build Institutions

Relentless critique has become common in politics, but critique alone is not enough to counter fascist reaction. Marginalization refers to measurable experiences of suffering produced by structural violence and systemic exclusion. Intersectionality describes how overlapping forms of discrimination reinforce each other and shape real life outcomes. Wokeness frames how power operates based on identity. Hard data exists on disparities affecting disabled people, gaps between Black and white Americans, and life outcomes for trans people. Undocumented workers face exploitation, demonization, abuse, and deportation tied to an artificial binary. Knowing these realities does not fix them, and exposing problems does not automatically reform institutions.

"But it has been just that-critique. Useful critique, yes. Highly productive critique, yes. And this author finds herself in agreement with the vast majority of this critique, conceptualized in theory, and lived in practice. But as we have seen in the past decade, as we continue to respond to the fascist reaction that has defined the last decade, critique is by no means enough."

"The reality is that when we talk about “marginalized people”, we speak of real, quantitatively measurable, empirically testable experiences. We speak of real suffering, real struggle, real pain, simply because we have built a society in which structural violence and systemic marginalization is the norm. When we speak of intersectionality, we speak of how different areas of discrimination overlap and reinforce each other, affecting real life outcomes."

"Make no mistake, there is hard data on this. Statistics on how disabled people are left behind. Data on the gaps between Black and white Americans. Information on the life outcomes of trans people. We know that undocumented workers are systematically exploited, and then demonized, abused and deported, just for being on the wrong side of an artificial binary. We know these systems produce suffering."

"But knowing is not fixing. To reveal is not to reform. As we move deeper into this reactionary era, marked not just by Trump, but by a worldwide fascist backlash"

Read at Liberal Currents