0:00:01.026,0:00:03.346
I'd like to try something new.

0:00:03.346,0:00:04.966
Those of you who are able,

0:00:04.966,0:00:06.595
please stand up.

0:00:08.735,0:00:12.251
Okay, so I'm going to name some names.

0:00:12.251,0:00:14.655
When you hear a name[br]that you don't recognize,

0:00:14.655,0:00:16.444
you can't tell me anything about them,

0:00:16.444,0:00:18.208
I'd like you to take a seat,

0:00:18.208,0:00:20.496
and stay seated.

0:00:20.496,0:00:24.665
The last person standing,[br]we're going to see what they know.

0:00:24.665,0:00:25.520
Okay?

0:00:25.520,0:00:26.524
(Laughter)

0:00:26.524,0:00:27.353
All right.

0:00:27.353,0:00:30.750
Eric Garner.

0:00:30.750,0:00:34.742
Mike Brown.

0:00:34.742,0:00:36.876
Tamir Rice.

0:00:39.948,0:00:41.618
Freddie Gray.

0:00:44.445,0:00:46.255
So those of you who are still standing,

0:00:46.255,0:00:48.033
I'd like you to turn around[br]and take a look.

0:00:48.033,0:00:53.193
I'd say half to most of the people[br]are still standing.

0:00:53.193,0:00:55.005
So let's continue.

0:00:55.949,0:00:58.115
Michelle Cusseaux.

0:01:03.979,0:01:06.510
Tanisha Anderson.

0:01:10.639,0:01:12.123
Ara Russer.

0:01:15.802,0:01:18.171
Meagan Hockaday.

0:01:19.195,0:01:23.498
So if we look around again, there are[br]about four people still standing,

0:01:23.498,0:01:26.572
and actually I'm not going[br]to put you on the spot.

0:01:26.572,0:01:29.073
I just say that to encourage transparency,

0:01:29.073,0:01:30.601
so you can be seated.

0:01:30.601,0:01:32.609
(Laughter)

0:01:32.609,0:01:35.917
So those of you who recognized[br]the first group of names know

0:01:35.917,0:01:40.351
that these were African-Americans[br]who have been killed by the police

0:01:40.351,0:01:42.916
over the last two and a half years.

0:01:42.916,0:01:47.751
What you may not know is that[br]the other list is also

0:01:47.751,0:01:56.414
African-Americans who have been killed[br]within the last two years.

0:01:56.414,0:01:59.934
Only one thing distinguishes[br]the names that you know

0:01:59.934,0:02:02.615
from the names that you don't know:

0:02:02.615,0:02:04.523
gender.

0:02:04.523,0:02:10.737
So let me first let you know[br]that there's nothing at all distinct

0:02:10.737,0:02:12.546
about this audience

0:02:12.546,0:02:16.166
that explains the patterns of recognition[br]that we've just seen.

0:02:16.166,0:02:20.885
I've done this exercise[br]dozens of times around the country.

0:02:20.885,0:02:23.513
I've done it to women's[br]rights organizations.

0:02:23.513,0:02:25.519
I've done it with civil rights groups.

0:02:25.519,0:02:28.726
I've done it with professors.[br]I've done it with students.

0:02:28.726,0:02:32.764
I've done it with psychologists.[br]I've done it with sociologists.

0:02:32.764,0:02:36.456
I've done it even with[br]progressive members of Congress.

0:02:36.456,0:02:40.827
And everywhere, the awareness[br]of the level of police violence

0:02:40.827,0:02:42.653
that black women experience

0:02:42.653,0:02:45.826
is exceedingly low.

0:02:45.826,0:02:49.478
Now, it is surprising, isn't it,[br]that this would be the case.

0:02:49.478,0:02:51.386
I mean, there are two issues[br]involved here.

0:02:51.386,0:02:54.393
There's police violence[br]against African-Americans,

0:02:54.393,0:02:56.563
and there's violence against women,

0:02:56.563,0:03:00.308
two issues that have been[br]talked about a lot lately.

0:03:00.308,0:03:06.482
But when we think about[br]who is implicated by these problems,

0:03:06.482,0:03:09.474
when we think about who is[br]victimized by these problems,

0:03:09.474,0:03:13.844
the names of these black women[br]never come to mind.

0:03:13.844,0:03:16.557
Now, communications experts tell us

0:03:16.557,0:03:20.899
that when facts do not fit[br]with the available frames,

0:03:20.899,0:03:24.847
people have a difficult time[br]incorporating new facts

0:03:24.847,0:03:29.153
into their way of thinking[br]about a problem.

0:03:29.153,0:03:32.639
These women's names have[br]slipped through our consciousness

0:03:32.639,0:03:35.631
because there are no frames[br]for us to see them,

0:03:35.631,0:03:38.278
no frames for us to remember them,

0:03:38.278,0:03:41.680
no frames for us to hold them.

0:03:41.680,0:03:43.654
As a consequence,

0:03:43.654,0:03:46.400
reporters don't lead with them,

0:03:46.400,0:03:49.409
policymakers don't think about them,

0:03:49.409,0:03:56.117
and politicians aren't encouraged[br]or demanded that they speak to them.

0:03:56.117,0:03:59.537
Now you might ask,

0:03:59.537,0:04:00.183
why does a frame matter?

0:04:00.183,0:04:01.169
I mean, after all,

0:04:01.169,0:04:06.706
an issue that affects black people[br]and an issue that affects women,

0:04:06.706,0:04:10.832
wouldn't that necessarily include[br]black people who are women

0:04:10.832,0:04:13.645
and women who are black people?

0:04:13.645,0:04:18.198
Well, the simple answer is[br]that this is a trickle-down approach

0:04:18.198,0:04:20.468
to social justice, and many times

0:04:20.468,0:04:22.540
it just doesn't work.

0:04:22.540,0:04:26.650
Without frames that allow us to see[br]how social problems impact

0:04:26.650,0:04:29.742
all the members of a targeted group,

0:04:29.742,0:04:32.817
many will fall through the cracks[br]of our movements,

0:04:32.817,0:04:37.700
meant to suffer in virtual isolation.

0:04:37.700,0:04:42.386
But it doesn't have to be this way.

0:04:42.386,0:04:47.158
Many years ago, I began to use[br]the term "intersectionality"

0:04:47.158,0:04:51.496
to deal with the fact that many[br]of our social justice problems

0:04:51.496,0:04:53.683
like racism and sexism

0:04:53.683,0:04:56.375
are often overlapping,

0:04:56.375,0:05:01.410
creating multiple levels[br]of social injustice.

0:05:01.410,0:05:04.617
Now, the experience that gave rise

0:05:04.617,0:05:08.122
to intersectionality[br]was my chance encounter

0:05:08.122,0:05:12.034
with a woman named Emma Degraffenreed.

0:05:12.034,0:05:16.257
Emma Degraffenreed was an[br]African-American woman,

0:05:16.257,0:05:19.020
a working wife, and a mother.

0:05:19.020,0:05:21.240
I actually read about Emma's story

0:05:21.240,0:05:24.200
from the pages of a legal opinion

0:05:24.200,0:05:28.607
written by a judge who had[br]dismissed Emma's claim

0:05:28.607,0:05:30.722
of race and gender discrimination

0:05:30.722,0:05:35.723
against a local car manufacturing plant.

0:05:35.723,0:05:39.261
Emma, like so many African-American women,

0:05:39.261,0:05:43.144
sought better employment[br]for her family and for others.

0:05:43.144,0:05:47.600
She wanted to create a better life[br]for her children and for her family.

0:05:47.600,0:05:49.716
But she applied for a job,

0:05:49.716,0:05:51.445
and she was not hired,

0:05:51.445,0:05:55.920
and she believed that she was not hired[br]because she was a black woman.

0:05:55.920,0:06:00.588
Now, the judge in question[br]dismissed Emma's suit,

0:06:00.588,0:06:03.251
and the argument[br]for dismissing the suit was

0:06:03.251,0:06:07.574
that the employer did hire[br]African-Americans

0:06:07.574,0:06:10.897
and the employer hired women.

0:06:10.897,0:06:15.698
The real problem, though, that the judge[br]was not willing to acknowledge

0:06:15.698,0:06:18.724
was what Emma was actually trying to say,

0:06:18.724,0:06:21.782
that the African-Americans[br]that were hired,

0:06:21.782,0:06:27.471
usually for industrial jobs,[br]maintenance jobs, were all men,

0:06:27.471,0:06:32.799
and the women that were hired, usually[br]for secretarial or front office work,

0:06:32.799,0:06:34.903
were all white.

0:06:34.903,0:06:39.492
Only if the court was able to see[br]how these policies came together

0:06:39.492,0:06:43.273
would he be able to see[br]the double discrimination

0:06:43.273,0:06:47.170
that Emma Degraffenreed was facing.

0:06:47.170,0:06:49.734
But the court refused to allow Emma

0:06:49.734,0:06:52.635
to put two causes of action together

0:06:52.635,0:06:54.013
to tell her story

0:06:54.013,0:06:58.022
because he believed that,[br]by allowing her to do that,

0:06:58.022,0:07:02.164
she would be able to have[br]preferential treatment.

0:07:02.164,0:07:07.035
She would have an advantage[br]by having two swings at the bat,

0:07:07.035,0:07:12.704
when African-American men and white women[br]only had one swing at the bat.

0:07:12.704,0:07:17.673
But of course, neither[br]African-American men or white women

0:07:17.673,0:07:22.209
needed to combine a race[br]and gender discrimination claim

0:07:22.209,0:07:27.601
to tell the story of the discrimination[br]they were experiencing.

0:07:27.601,0:07:30.693
Why wasn't the real unfairness

0:07:30.693,0:07:34.869
laws refusal to protect[br]African-American women

0:07:34.869,0:07:38.799
simply because their experiences[br]weren't exactly the same

0:07:38.799,0:07:43.538
as white women[br]and African-American men?

0:07:43.538,0:07:48.962
Rather than broadening the frame[br]to include African-American women,

0:07:48.962,0:07:53.551
the court simply tossed their case[br]completely out of court.

0:07:54.213,0:07:58.251
Now, as a student[br]of anti-discrimination law,

0:07:58.251,0:07:59.799
as a feminist,

0:07:59.799,0:08:02.016
as an anti-racist,

0:08:02.016,0:08:05.433
I was struck by this case.

0:08:05.433,0:08:10.007
It felt to me like injustice squared.

0:08:10.007,0:08:11.899
So first of all,

0:08:11.899,0:08:15.762
black women weren't allowed[br]to work at the plant.

0:08:15.762,0:08:19.749
Second of all, the court[br]doubled down on this exclusion

0:08:19.749,0:08:23.680
by making it legally inconsequential.

0:08:23.680,0:08:27.692
And to boot, there was[br]no name for this problem.

0:08:27.692,0:08:31.311
And we all know that,[br]where there's no name for a problem,

0:08:31.311,0:08:34.224
you can't see a problem,[br]and when you can't see a problem,

0:08:34.224,0:08:38.198
you pretty much can't solve it.

0:08:38.198,0:08:44.384
Many years later, I had come to recognize[br]that the problem that Emma was facing

0:08:44.384,0:08:47.407
was a framing problem.

0:08:47.407,0:08:51.861
The frame that the court was using[br]to see gender discrimination

0:08:51.861,0:08:55.381
or to see race discrimination was partial

0:08:55.381,0:08:58.176
and it was distorting.

0:08:58.176,0:09:01.070
For me, the challenge that I faced was

0:09:01.070,0:09:05.878
trying to figure out whether there was[br]an alternative narrative,

0:09:05.878,0:09:10.574
a prism that would allow us to see[br]Emma's dilemma,

0:09:10.574,0:09:16.493
a prism that would allow us[br]to rescue her from the cracks in the law,

0:09:16.493,0:09:21.198
that would allow judges to see her story.

0:09:21.198,0:09:28.102
So it occurred to me, maybe[br]a simple analogy to an intersection

0:09:28.102,0:09:33.530
might allow judges to better see[br]Emma's dilemma.

0:09:33.530,0:09:39.137
So if we think about this intersection,[br]the roads to the intersection would be

0:09:39.137,0:09:44.758
the way that the work force[br]was structured by race and by gender,

0:09:44.758,0:09:49.494
and then the traffic in those roads[br]would be the hiring policies

0:09:49.494,0:09:53.604
and the other practices[br]that ran through those roads.

0:09:53.604,0:09:58.605
Now, because Emma was[br]both black and female,

0:09:58.605,0:10:04.096
she was positioned precisely[br]where those roads overlapped,

0:10:04.096,0:10:08.041
experiencing the simultaneous impact

0:10:08.041,0:10:12.152
of the company's gender[br]and race traffic.

0:10:13.766,0:10:18.367
The law, the law is like[br]that ambulance that shows up

0:10:18.367,0:10:22.774
and is ready to treat Emma[br]only if it can be shown

0:10:22.774,0:10:27.377
that she was harmed[br]on the race road or the gender road

0:10:27.377,0:10:32.163
but not where those roads intersected.

0:10:32.163,0:10:37.458
So what do you call being impacted[br]by multiple forces

0:10:37.458,0:10:41.946
and then abandoned to fend for yourself?

0:10:41.946,0:10:46.040
Intersectionality seemed to do it for me.

0:10:46.040,0:10:50.939
I would go on to learn that[br]African-American women,

0:10:50.939,0:10:53.144
like other women of color,

0:10:53.144,0:10:57.053
like other socially marginalized people[br]all over the world,

0:10:57.053,0:11:00.888
were facing all kinds[br]of dilemmas and challenges

0:11:00.888,0:11:04.186
as a consequence of intersectionality,

0:11:04.186,0:11:07.728
intersections of race and gender,

0:11:07.728,0:11:11.952
of heterosexism, transphobia,[br]xenophobia, ablism,

0:11:11.952,0:11:17.545
all of these social dynamics come together

0:11:17.545,0:11:19.731
and create challenges

0:11:19.731,0:11:23.233
that are sometimes quite unique.

0:11:23.233,0:11:25.864
But in the same way

0:11:25.864,0:11:27.494
that intersectionality

0:11:27.494,0:11:33.576
raised our awareness to the way[br]that black women live their lives,

0:11:33.576,0:11:38.131
it also exposes the tragic circumstances

0:11:38.131,0:11:42.511
under which African-American women die.

0:11:42.511,0:11:46.566
Police violence against black women

0:11:46.566,0:11:48.391
is very real.

0:11:48.391,0:11:51.991
The level of violence[br]that black women face

0:11:51.991,0:11:53.817
is such that it's not surprising

0:11:53.817,0:11:59.339
that some of them do not survive[br]their encounters with police.

0:11:59.339,0:12:03.074
Black girls as young as seven,

0:12:03.074,0:12:07.760
great grandmothers as old as 95,

0:12:07.760,0:12:10.292
have been killed by the police.

0:12:10.292,0:12:13.006
They've been killed in their living rooms,

0:12:13.006,0:12:14.918
in their bedrooms.

0:12:14.918,0:12:17.831
They've been killed in their cars.

0:12:17.831,0:12:20.067
They've been killed on the street.

0:12:20.067,0:12:22.766
They've been killed[br]in front of their parents

0:12:22.766,0:12:26.383
and they've been killed[br]in front of their children.

0:12:26.383,0:12:28.756
They have been shot to death.

0:12:28.756,0:12:32.176
They have bene stomped to death.

0:12:32.176,0:12:34.853
They have been suffocated to death.

0:12:34.853,0:12:37.833
They have been manhandled to death.

0:12:37.833,0:12:40.960
They have been tasered to death.

0:12:40.960,0:12:45.791
They've been killed when they've[br]called for help.

0:12:45.791,0:12:49.178
They've been killed when they[br]were alone,

0:12:49.178,0:12:53.058
and they've been killed[br]when they were with others.

0:12:53.058,0:12:56.741
They've been killed shopping while black,

0:12:56.741,0:12:59.388
driving while black,

0:12:59.388,0:13:03.631
having a mental disability while black,

0:13:03.631,0:13:07.561
having a domestic disturbance while black.

0:13:07.561,0:13:12.298
They've even been killed[br]being homeless while black.

0:13:12.298,0:13:15.289
They've been killed[br]talking on the cell phone,

0:13:15.289,0:13:17.427
laughing with friends,

0:13:17.427,0:13:20.501
sitting in a car reported as stolen,

0:13:20.501,0:13:24.091
and making a u-turn[br]in front of a White House

0:13:24.091,0:13:28.180
with an infant strapped[br]in the back seat of the car.

0:13:28.180,0:13:32.060
Why don't we know these stories?

0:13:32.060,0:13:36.615
Why is it that their lost lives

0:13:36.615,0:13:41.318
don't generate the same amount[br]of media attention and communal outcry

0:13:41.318,0:13:46.185
as the lost lives[br]of their fallen brothers?

0:13:46.185,0:13:49.408
It's time for a change.

0:13:49.408,0:13:54.866
So what can we do?

0:13:54.866,0:13:59.817
In 2014, the African-American[br]Policy Forum began to demand

0:13:59.817,0:14:04.616
that we "say her name"

0:14:04.616,0:14:08.136
at rallies, at protests,

0:14:08.136,0:14:11.014
at conferences, at meetings,

0:14:11.014,0:14:13.496
anywhere and everywhere

0:14:13.496,0:14:16.850
that state violence against black bodies[br]is being discussed.

0:14:16.850,0:14:21.832
But saying her name is not enough.

0:14:21.832,0:14:24.069
We have to be willing to do more.

0:14:24.069,0:14:27.488
We have to be willing to bear witness,

0:14:27.488,0:14:30.908
to bear witness to the often[br]painful realities

0:14:30.908,0:14:33.918
that we would just rather not confront,

0:14:33.918,0:14:37.157
the everyday violence and humiliation

0:14:37.157,0:14:40.233
that many black women have had to face,

0:14:40.233,0:14:42.632
black women across color,

0:14:42.632,0:14:45.525
age, gender expression,

0:14:45.525,0:14:49.111
sexuality, and ability.

0:14:49.111,0:14:51.357
So we have the opportunity right now,

0:14:51.357,0:14:57.540
bearing in mind that some of the images[br]that I'm about to share with you

0:14:57.540,0:15:00.252
may be triggering for some,

0:15:00.252,0:15:02.275
to collectively bear witness

0:15:02.275,0:15:06.382
to some of this violence.

0:15:06.382,0:15:08.375
We're going to hear the voice

0:15:08.375,0:15:11.384
of the phenomenal Abby Dobson,

0:15:11.384,0:15:14.968
and as we sit with these women,

0:15:14.968,0:15:21.282
some who have experienced violence[br]and some who have not survived them,

0:15:21.282,0:15:26.725
we have an opportunity to reverse what[br]happened at the beginning of this talk,

0:15:26.725,0:15:29.590
when we could not stand for these women

0:15:29.590,0:15:33.893
because we did not know their names.

0:15:33.893,0:15:38.858
So at the end of this clip,[br]there's going to be a roll call.

0:15:38.858,0:15:42.838
Several black women's names will come up.

0:15:42.838,0:15:47.899
I'd like those of you who are able[br]to join us in saying these names

0:15:47.899,0:15:50.315
as loud as you can,

0:15:50.315,0:15:53.440
randomly, disorderly.

0:15:53.440,0:15:56.712
Let's create a cacophony of sound

0:15:56.712,0:16:03.470
to represent our intention

0:16:03.470,0:16:04.473
to hold these women up,

0:16:04.473,0:16:05.673
to sit with them,

0:16:05.673,0:16:06.808
to bear witness to them,

0:16:06.808,0:16:09.750
to bring them into the light.

0:16:16.659,0:16:29.613
Abby Dobson: Say, say her name.

0:16:30.885,0:16:37.046
Say

0:16:38.394,0:16:44.037
Say her name

0:16:46.057,0:16:53.916
Oh

0:16:53.916,0:17:02.943
Say her name

0:17:02.943,0:17:10.540
Say, say

0:17:10.540,0:17:17.593
Say her name

0:17:17.593,0:17:23.334
Say her name

0:17:23.334,0:17:34.086
All the names I'll never know

0:17:34.086,0:17:46.860
Say her name

0:17:49.246,0:17:56.709
Say her name

0:17:59.325,0:18:02.156
Kimberlé Crenshaw: So I said[br]at the beginning,

0:18:02.156,0:18:05.672
if we can't see a problem,

0:18:05.672,0:18:08.598
we can't fix a problem.

0:18:08.598,0:18:12.545
Together, we've come together[br]to bear witness

0:18:12.545,0:18:15.160
to these women's lost lives,

0:18:15.160,0:18:17.822
but the time now is to move

0:18:17.822,0:18:20.045
from mourning and grief

0:18:20.045,0:18:24.089
to action and transformation.

0:18:24.089,0:18:27.696
This is something that we can do.

0:18:27.696,0:18:29.891
It's up to us.

0:18:29.891,0:18:32.705
Thank you for joining us.

0:18:32.705,0:18:36.312
(Applause)