Over the last year, there have been debates amongst mostly non-white vegans and non-white animal rights folks about how intersectionality has been co-opted by mainstream veganism and has lost its original intention and meaning. Furthermore, there is suggestion that intersectionality doesnt dismantle systems of oppression, it just shows how either social identities and/or struggles are connected (i.e., one isnt just Black, but that their Black identity is influenced by sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic class, ability, etc).

Why do I start with Intersectionality, despite there being a rising backlash against it by many non-white anti-racism activists (vegan and non-vegan)?

I start with intersectionality because most people in the USA do not have a literacy around reality beyond a one-dimensional approach. I cant just jump into Black Marxism or decolonial world systems analysis without using intersectionality as a bridge and a way to move beyond one-dimensional or binary ways of trying to understand history, politics, economics, the food system, law, etc. Most of my work over the last decade uses intersectionality but is not bound to it or limited by it; its one of many pedagogies I use (others areEngaged buddhism, Black Marxism, Decolonial World Systems Analysis,). I am employing Intersectionalitybecause I am getting ready to set up the next phase of action> which is to then decolonize and dismantle this current inequitable system.

I find that most people I work with or talk to cannot dive into decolonizing and dismantling this oppressive system that currently has existed for 500+ years (at least here in the USA) until I first begin with basic concepts that social-identities are not existing in a vacuum, void from being affected by and affecting a system. The goal is not to get stuck in swirling around in making a game out of howeverything is connected (i.e. intersectionality)without taking the plunge todismantle it;even if it means for many of the white racial status quo to give up their possessive investment in whiteness ( I mention the racial aspect of oppression first because I come from a critical race studies and anti-racism background as it relates to my ethical consumption scholarship and have written about possessive investment of whiteness within the ethical vegan movement).

Interestingly, I keep on seeing more and more non-white activists who are actively taking a stance against oppressive systems (namely white supremacy, racism, neocolonialism, and neoliberal capitalist) claiming that intersectionality cannot do true justice or create equitable systems since it does NOT seek to abolish the present inequitable system (i.e., its current co-opted framing doesnt eradicate white liberal possessive investment in whiteness despite intersectionality gaining popularity among white liberal identified crowd.)

So, how do I approach the end goal (dismantling the present exploitative neoliberal capitalist model of equality) without addressing that we dont live in a one-dimensional vacuum? Like I wrote earlier, I use intersectionality as one of the tools but not theonlytool. I start here with these steps:

I come from the camp of intersectionality as used by and mostly for the unique situation that Black women in the USA were in (and currently continue to be) when Crenshaw first coined the concept several decades ago (when it was nothip for white folk to use, period). For me, my engagement with Crenshawsintersectionalityis incontinuation of and part of the Black radical tradition and even Black Marxist roots I come from as thousands of Black women are aware that sexism, poverty, anti-black racism, white supremacy are a result of a CAPITALIST/NEOCOLONIAL arrangement of power, resources, rights, etc. Id argue thatour collective intersectionality isnotthe same as the one that is now hip and even lucrative for white mainstream businesses and organizations to employ.Its more like a cosmetic diversity add-on that is a faade and even used many times of cultural capital for those least likely to be negatively affected by systemic racism.

However, do I abandon intersectionality now just because it is being co-opted more and more by a status quo the uses it in a trendy way but still doesnt truly want to demolish capitalism and covert-systemic forms of white supremacy ?

RIP Intersectionality? Nah, I am not ready to bury it just yet.

Dr.A. Breeze Harperhas a PhD in Critical Food Geographies. She isthe creator of The Sistah Vegan Project and the editor of the ground-breaking anthology,Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak On Food, Identity, Health, and Society,is a sought-after speaker, writer, andconsultantat Critical Diversity Solutions (www.criticaldiversitysolutions.com).

Her most recently published book isScars: A Black Lesbian Experience in Rural White New England(Sense Publishers 2014).Scarsinterrogates how systems of oppression and power impact the life of protagonist 18 year old Savannah Sales, the only Black teenager living in an all white and working class rural New England town. In 2018, her latest book project will be published, tentatively titledBlack Mama Scholar: On Black Feminism, Food Ethics, And Toddler Tantrums .

Overall, Dr. Harperswork focuses on how systems of oppression- namely racism and normative whiteness- operate within the USA. She uses food and ethical consumptions cultures, within North America, to explore these systems. Her favorite tools of analysis are critical whiteness studies, decolonial world systems theory, Black feminisms, critical race feminism, critical animal studies, and critical food studies. She is known for usingengaged Buddhismas the choice method to explain her research andbroach these often difficult topics of power, privilege, and liberation.

Dr. Harperhas been invited to deliver keynote addresses and lectures at universities and conferences throughout North America. Her talks explore how and why people have unique relationships to food and wellness and how these relationships are impacted by race, socio-economic class, gender, sexuality and physical abilities.

If you are interested in having A. Breeze Harper speak at your college, conference or organization please contact her atbreezeharper@gmail.com. Learn more about her on her author andpublications page here.

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Sistah Vegan - Anti-oppression, food justice & veganism