0:00:00.760,0:00:02.520
I'd like to try something new.

0:00:03.200,0:00:04.736
Those of you who are able,

0:00:04.760,0:00:05.960
please stand up.

0:00:08.480,0:00:11.600
OK, so I'm going to name some names.

0:00:12.080,0:00:14.456
When you hear a name[br]that you don't recognize,

0:00:14.480,0:00:16.335
you can't tell me anything about them,

0:00:16.360,0:00:18.136
I'd like you to take a seat,

0:00:18.160,0:00:19.480
and stay seated.

0:00:20.240,0:00:23.856
The last person standing,[br]we're going to see what they know. OK?

0:00:23.880,0:00:25.456
(Laughter)

0:00:25.480,0:00:26.680
All right.

0:00:27.160,0:00:28.360
Eric Garner.

0:00:30.480,0:00:31.760
Mike Brown.

0:00:35.160,0:00:36.520
Tamir Rice.

0:00:39.760,0:00:40.960
Freddie Gray.

0:00:44.240,0:00:46.136
So those of you who are still standing,

0:00:46.160,0:00:48.256
I'd like you to turn around[br]and take a look.

0:00:48.280,0:00:52.280
I'd say half to most of the people[br]are still standing.

0:00:52.920,0:00:54.120
So let's continue.

0:00:55.640,0:00:57.000
Michelle Cusseaux.

0:01:03.720,0:01:05.640
Tanisha Anderson.

0:01:10.400,0:01:11.640
Aura Rosser.

0:01:15.560,0:01:16.800
Meagan Hockaday.

0:01:18.760,0:01:20.216
So if we look around again,

0:01:20.240,0:01:23.256
there are about four people[br]still standing,

0:01:23.280,0:01:25.976
and actually I'm not going[br]to put you on the spot.

0:01:26.000,0:01:29.576
I just say that to encourage transparency,[br]so you can be seated.

0:01:29.600,0:01:31.280
(Laughter)

0:01:32.560,0:01:35.776
So those of you who recognized[br]the first group of names know

0:01:35.800,0:01:39.696
that these were African-Americans[br]who have been killed by the police

0:01:39.720,0:01:41.920
over the last two and a half years.

0:01:43.160,0:01:44.416
What you may not know

0:01:44.440,0:01:49.856
is that the other list[br]is also African-Americans

0:01:49.880,0:01:54.680
who have been killed[br]within the last two years.

0:01:55.680,0:01:59.656
Only one thing distinguishes[br]the names that you know

0:01:59.680,0:02:01.360
from the names that you don't know:

0:02:02.320,0:02:03.520
gender.

0:02:04.720,0:02:10.536
So let me first let you know[br]that there's nothing at all distinct

0:02:10.560,0:02:12.336
about this audience

0:02:12.360,0:02:16.176
that explains the pattern of recognition[br]that we've just seen.

0:02:16.200,0:02:20.696
I've done this exercise[br]dozens of times around the country.

0:02:20.720,0:02:23.296
I've done it to women's[br]rights organizations.

0:02:23.320,0:02:25.456
I've done it with civil rights groups.

0:02:25.480,0:02:28.456
I've done it with professors.[br]I've done it with students.

0:02:28.480,0:02:32.736
I've done it with psychologists.[br]I've done it with sociologists.

0:02:32.760,0:02:36.256
I've done it even with[br]progressive members of Congress.

0:02:36.280,0:02:40.576
And everywhere, the awareness[br]of the level of police violence

0:02:40.600,0:02:42.496
that black women experience

0:02:42.520,0:02:44.520
is exceedingly low.

0:02:45.600,0:02:49.176
Now, it is surprising, isn't it,[br]that this would be the case.

0:02:49.200,0:02:51.216
I mean, there are two issues[br]involved here.

0:02:51.240,0:02:54.336
There's police violence[br]against African-Americans,

0:02:54.360,0:02:56.416
and there's violence against women,

0:02:56.440,0:02:59.400
two issues that have been[br]talked about a lot lately.

0:03:00.120,0:03:06.096
But when we think about[br]who is implicated by these problems,

0:03:06.120,0:03:09.616
when we think about[br]who is victimized by these problems,

0:03:09.640,0:03:12.720
the names of these black women[br]never come to mind.

0:03:13.680,0:03:16.416
Now, communications experts tell us

0:03:16.440,0:03:20.896
that when facts do not fit[br]with the available frames,

0:03:20.920,0:03:24.656
people have a difficult time[br]incorporating new facts

0:03:24.680,0:03:27.960
into their way of thinking[br]about a problem.

0:03:29.040,0:03:32.336
These women's names[br]have slipped through our consciousness

0:03:32.360,0:03:35.776
because there are no frames[br]for us to see them,

0:03:35.800,0:03:38.096
no frames for us to remember them,

0:03:38.120,0:03:40.080
no frames for us to hold them.

0:03:41.480,0:03:42.840
As a consequence,

0:03:43.720,0:03:45.440
reporters don't lead with them,

0:03:46.320,0:03:49.376
policymakers don't think about them,

0:03:49.400,0:03:54.800
and politicians aren't encouraged[br]or demanded that they speak to them.

0:03:55.800,0:03:57.416
Now, you might ask,

0:03:57.440,0:03:59.016
why does a frame matter?

0:03:59.040,0:04:00.856
I mean, after all,

0:04:00.880,0:04:06.176
an issue that affects black people[br]and an issue that affects women,

0:04:06.200,0:04:10.256
wouldn't that necessarily include[br]black people who are women

0:04:10.280,0:04:12.560
and women who are black people?

0:04:13.520,0:04:18.776
Well, the simple answer is that this is[br]a trickle-down approach to social justice,

0:04:18.800,0:04:21.800
and many times it just doesn't work.

0:04:22.280,0:04:24.776
Without frames that allow us to see

0:04:24.800,0:04:29.536
how social problems impact[br]all the members of a targeted group,

0:04:29.560,0:04:32.776
many will fall through the cracks[br]of our movements,

0:04:32.800,0:04:36.240
left to suffer in virtual isolation.

0:04:37.360,0:04:41.280
But it doesn't have to be this way.

0:04:42.080,0:04:47.216
Many years ago, I began to use[br]the term "intersectionality"

0:04:47.240,0:04:51.336
to deal with the fact[br]that many of our social justice problems

0:04:51.360,0:04:53.256
like racism and sexism

0:04:53.280,0:04:55.480
are often overlapping,

0:04:56.000,0:05:00.040
creating multiple levels[br]of social injustice.

0:05:01.240,0:05:06.416
Now, the experience[br]that gave rise to intersectionality

0:05:06.440,0:05:11.400
was my chance encounter[br]with a woman named Emma DeGraffenreid.

0:05:12.240,0:05:16.056
Emma DeGraffenreid[br]was an African-American woman,

0:05:16.080,0:05:18.776
a working wife, and a mother.

0:05:18.800,0:05:24.216
I actually read about Emma's story[br]from the pages of a legal opinion

0:05:24.240,0:05:28.376
written by a judge[br]who had dismissed Emma's claim

0:05:28.400,0:05:30.496
of race and gender discrimination

0:05:30.520,0:05:34.720
against a local car manufacturing plant.

0:05:35.440,0:05:39.176
Emma, like so many African-American women,

0:05:39.200,0:05:42.976
sought better employment[br]for her family and for others.

0:05:43.000,0:05:47.416
She wanted to create a better life[br]for her children and for her family.

0:05:47.440,0:05:49.656
But she applied for a job,

0:05:49.680,0:05:51.376
and she was not hired,

0:05:51.400,0:05:55.040
and she believed that she was not hired[br]because she was a black woman.

0:05:55.800,0:06:00.416
Now, the judge in question[br]dismissed Emma's suit,

0:06:00.440,0:06:03.016
and the argument[br]for dismissing the suit was

0:06:03.040,0:06:07.376
that the employer[br]did hire African-Americans

0:06:07.400,0:06:09.760
and the employer hired women.

0:06:11.360,0:06:15.416
The real problem, though, that the judge[br]was not willing to acknowledge

0:06:15.440,0:06:18.616
was what Emma was actually trying to say,

0:06:18.640,0:06:21.536
that the African-Americans[br]that were hired,

0:06:21.560,0:06:26.320
usually for industrial jobs,[br]maintenance jobs, were all men,

0:06:27.320,0:06:29.216
and the women that were hired,

0:06:29.240,0:06:32.856
usually for secretarial[br]or front-office work,

0:06:32.880,0:06:34.080
were all white.

0:06:34.840,0:06:39.456
Only if the court was able to see[br]how these policies came together

0:06:39.480,0:06:43.136
would he be able to see[br]the double discrimination

0:06:43.160,0:06:46.280
that Emma DeGraffenreid was facing.

0:06:46.960,0:06:52.456
But the court refused to allow Emma[br]to put two causes of action together

0:06:52.480,0:06:53.856
to tell her story

0:06:53.880,0:06:57.816
because he believed that,[br]by allowing her to do that,

0:06:57.840,0:07:01.776
she would be able[br]to have preferential treatment.

0:07:01.800,0:07:07.016
She would have an advantage[br]by having two swings at the bat,

0:07:07.040,0:07:11.680
when African-American men and white women[br]only had one swing at the bat.

0:07:12.360,0:07:17.456
But of course, neither[br]African-American men or white women

0:07:17.480,0:07:22.056
needed to combine a race[br]and gender discrimination claim

0:07:22.080,0:07:26.440
to tell the story of the discrimination[br]they were experiencing.

0:07:27.280,0:07:30.496
Why wasn't the real unfairness

0:07:30.520,0:07:34.656
law's refusal to protect[br]African-American women

0:07:34.680,0:07:38.776
simply because their experiences[br]weren't exactly the same

0:07:38.800,0:07:42.560
as white women and African-American men?

0:07:43.280,0:07:48.536
Rather than broadening the frame[br]to include African-American women,

0:07:48.560,0:07:52.840
the court simply tossed their case[br]completely out of court.

0:07:54.080,0:07:58.056
Now, as a student[br]of antidiscrimination law,

0:07:58.080,0:07:59.536
as a feminist,

0:07:59.560,0:08:01.936
as an antiracist,

0:08:01.960,0:08:05.176
I was struck by this case.

0:08:05.200,0:08:09.856
It felt to me like injustice squared.

0:08:09.880,0:08:11.976
So first of all,

0:08:12.000,0:08:14.840
black women weren't allowed[br]to work at the plant.

0:08:15.520,0:08:19.616
Second of all, the court[br]doubled down on this exclusion

0:08:19.640,0:08:23.000
by making it legally inconsequential.

0:08:23.480,0:08:26.880
And to boot, there was[br]no name for this problem.

0:08:27.600,0:08:31.096
And we all know that,[br]where there's no name for a problem,

0:08:31.120,0:08:32.376
you can't see a problem,

0:08:32.400,0:08:36.600
and when you can't see a problem,[br]you pretty much can't solve it.

0:08:38.159,0:08:40.775
Many years later, I had come to recognize

0:08:40.799,0:08:46.400
that the problem that Emma was facing[br]was a framing problem.

0:08:47.160,0:08:49.096
The frame that the court was using

0:08:49.120,0:08:54.096
to see gender discrimination[br]or to see race discrimination

0:08:54.120,0:08:57.040
was partial and it was distorting.

0:08:58.000,0:09:00.776
For me, the challenge that I faced was

0:09:00.800,0:09:05.616
trying to figure out whether[br]there was an alternative narrative,

0:09:05.640,0:09:10.336
a prism that would allow us[br]to see Emma's dilemma,

0:09:10.360,0:09:16.296
a prism that would allow us[br]to rescue her from the cracks in the law,

0:09:16.320,0:09:19.600
that would allow judges to see her story.

0:09:21.000,0:09:22.896
So it occurred to me,

0:09:22.920,0:09:27.936
maybe a simple analogy to an intersection

0:09:27.960,0:09:32.240
might allow judges[br]to better see Emma's dilemma.

0:09:32.840,0:09:37.696
So if we think about this intersection,[br]the roads to the intersection would be

0:09:37.720,0:09:43.640
the way that the workforce[br]was structured by race and by gender,

0:09:44.480,0:09:48.856
and then the traffic in those roads[br]would be the hiring policies

0:09:48.880,0:09:53.416
and the other practices[br]that ran through those roads.

0:09:53.440,0:09:58.376
Now, because Emma[br]was both black and female,

0:09:58.400,0:10:03.080
she was positioned precisely[br]where those roads overlapped,

0:10:03.760,0:10:07.976
experiencing the simultaneous impact

0:10:08.000,0:10:11.960
of the company's gender and race traffic.

0:10:13.400,0:10:19.176
The law -- the law is[br]like that ambulance that shows up

0:10:19.200,0:10:22.616
and is ready to treat Emma[br]only if it can be shown

0:10:22.640,0:10:27.256
that she was harmed[br]on the race road or on the gender road

0:10:27.280,0:10:31.120
but not where those roads intersected.

0:10:31.920,0:10:37.176
So what do you call[br]being impacted by multiple forces

0:10:37.200,0:10:40.760
and then abandoned to fend for yourself?

0:10:41.720,0:10:44.360
Intersectionality seemed to do it for me.

0:10:46.120,0:10:50.776
I would go on to learn[br]that African-American women,

0:10:50.800,0:10:52.736
like other women of color,

0:10:52.760,0:10:56.816
like other socially marginalized people[br]all over the world,

0:10:56.840,0:11:00.816
were facing all kinds[br]of dilemmas and challenges

0:11:00.840,0:11:03.936
as a consequence of intersectionality,

0:11:03.960,0:11:07.536
intersections of race and gender,

0:11:07.560,0:11:12.776
of heterosexism, transphobia,[br]xenophobia, ablism,

0:11:12.800,0:11:17.376
all of these social dynamics come together

0:11:17.400,0:11:21.640
and create challenges[br]that are sometimes quite unique.

0:11:23.040,0:11:24.856
But in the same way

0:11:24.880,0:11:26.440
that intersectionality

0:11:27.200,0:11:32.280
raised our awareness to the way[br]that black women live their lives,

0:11:33.280,0:11:37.416
it also exposes the tragic circumstances

0:11:37.440,0:11:40.600
under which African-American women die.

0:11:42.240,0:11:44.960
Police violence against black women

0:11:46.120,0:11:47.320
is very real.

0:11:48.080,0:11:50.576
The level of violence[br]that black women face

0:11:50.600,0:11:52.760
is such that it's not surprising

0:11:53.640,0:11:57.960
that some of them do not survive[br]their encounters with police.

0:11:59.200,0:12:02.656
Black girls as young as seven,

0:12:02.680,0:12:06.400
great grandmothers as old as 95

0:12:07.520,0:12:09.280
have been killed by the police.

0:12:09.960,0:12:12.000
They've been killed in their living rooms,

0:12:12.760,0:12:14.000
in their bedrooms.

0:12:14.800,0:12:16.720
They've been killed in their cars.

0:12:17.800,0:12:19.736
They've been killed on the street.

0:12:19.760,0:12:22.616
They've been killed[br]in front of their parents

0:12:22.640,0:12:25.440
and they've been killed[br]in front of their children.

0:12:26.120,0:12:27.800
They have been shot to death.

0:12:29.080,0:12:30.960
They have been stomped to death.

0:12:31.960,0:12:33.840
They have been suffocated to death.

0:12:34.560,0:12:37.496
They have been manhandled to death.

0:12:37.520,0:12:40.000
They have been tasered to death.

0:12:41.160,0:12:44.160
They've been killed[br]when they've called for help.

0:12:45.560,0:12:48.656
They've been killed when they were alone,

0:12:48.680,0:12:51.800
and they've been killed[br]when they were with others.

0:12:52.880,0:12:55.640
They've been killed shopping while black,

0:12:56.520,0:12:58.000
driving while black,

0:12:59.400,0:13:02.520
having a mental disability while black,

0:13:03.120,0:13:05.920
having a domestic disturbance while black.

0:13:07.200,0:13:11.080
They've even been killed[br]being homeless while black.

0:13:12.200,0:13:14.816
They've been killed[br]talking on the cell phone,

0:13:14.840,0:13:17.216
laughing with friends,

0:13:17.240,0:13:20.296
sitting in a car reported as stolen,

0:13:20.320,0:13:23.936
and making a U-turn[br]in front of the White House

0:13:23.960,0:13:26.800
with an infant strapped[br]in the backseat of the car.

0:13:28.040,0:13:29.840
Why don't we know these stories?

0:13:32.640,0:13:35.640
Why is it that their lost lives

0:13:36.440,0:13:41.176
don't generate the same amount[br]of media attention and communal outcry

0:13:41.200,0:13:44.360
as the lost lives[br]of their fallen brothers?

0:13:45.800,0:13:47.760
It's time for a change.

0:13:51.040,0:13:52.480
So what can we do?

0:13:54.800,0:14:00.176
In 2014, the African-American[br]Policy Forum began to demand

0:14:00.200,0:14:02.440
that we "say her name"

0:14:04.360,0:14:07.200
at rallies, at protests,

0:14:07.960,0:14:10.616
at conferences, at meetings,

0:14:10.640,0:14:13.256
anywhere and everywhere

0:14:13.280,0:14:17.280
that state violence against black bodies[br]is being discussed.

0:14:18.800,0:14:21.456
But saying her name is not enough.

0:14:21.480,0:14:24.056
We have to be willing to do more.

0:14:24.080,0:14:27.296
We have to be willing to bear witness,

0:14:27.320,0:14:30.936
to bear witness[br]to the often painful realities

0:14:30.960,0:14:33.696
that we would just rather not confront,

0:14:33.720,0:14:40.176
the everyday violence and humiliation[br]that many black women have had to face,

0:14:40.200,0:14:42.576
black women across color,

0:14:42.600,0:14:45.016
age, gender expression,

0:14:45.040,0:14:47.320
sexuality and ability.

0:14:49.040,0:14:53.216
So we have the opportunity right now --

0:14:53.240,0:14:57.256
bearing in mind that some of the images[br]that I'm about to share with you

0:14:57.280,0:14:59.000
may be triggering for some --

0:15:00.000,0:15:04.600
to collectively bear witness[br]to some of this violence.

0:15:06.120,0:15:10.400
We're going to hear the voice[br]of the phenomenal Abby Dobson,

0:15:11.160,0:15:14.160
and as we sit with these women,

0:15:14.760,0:15:19.960
some who have experienced violence[br]and some who have not survived them,

0:15:21.280,0:15:22.896
we have an opportunity

0:15:22.920,0:15:26.656
to reverse what happened[br]at the beginning of this talk,

0:15:26.680,0:15:29.376
when we could not stand for these women

0:15:29.400,0:15:32.760
because we did not know their names.

0:15:33.640,0:15:37.040
So at the end of this clip,[br]there's going to be a roll call.

0:15:38.560,0:15:41.160
Several black women's names will come up.

0:15:42.800,0:15:47.736
I'd like those of you who are able[br]to join us in saying these names

0:15:47.760,0:15:50.136
as loud as you can,

0:15:50.160,0:15:52.896
randomly, disorderly.

0:15:52.920,0:15:55.720
Let's create a cacophony of sound

0:15:56.600,0:15:58.720
to represent our intention

0:15:59.480,0:16:01.520
to hold these women up,

0:16:02.320,0:16:03.936
to sit with them,

0:16:03.960,0:16:05.680
to bear witness to them,

0:16:06.640,0:16:09.240
to bring them into the light.

0:16:16.160,0:16:22.920
(Song) Abby Dobson: Say,

0:16:23.360,0:16:29.360
say her name.

0:16:30.640,0:16:36.760
Say,

0:16:38.080,0:16:42.256
say her name.

0:16:42.280,0:16:43.480
(Audience) Shelly!

0:16:44.600,0:16:45.816
(Audience) Kayla!

0:16:45.840,0:16:52.280
(Song) Oh,

0:16:53.680,0:16:59.856
say her name.

0:16:59.880,0:17:02.416
(Audience shouting out the names)

0:17:02.440,0:17:09.400
Say, say,

0:17:09.760,0:17:15.520
say her name.

0:17:17.160,0:17:22.656
Say her name.

0:17:22.680,0:17:25.536
For all the names

0:17:25.560,0:17:30.880
I'll never know,

0:17:32.680,0:17:35.776
say her name.

0:17:35.800,0:17:38.576
Kimberlé Crenshaw:[br]Aiyanna Stanley Jones, Janisha Fonville,

0:17:38.600,0:17:40.936
Kathryn Johnston, Kayla Moore,

0:17:40.960,0:17:43.816
Michelle Cusseaux, Rekia Boyd,

0:17:43.840,0:17:48.280
Shelly Frey, Tarika, Yvette Smith.

0:17:48.880,0:17:55.520
(Song) Say her name.

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Kimberlé Crenshaw:[br]So I said at the beginning,

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if we can't see a problem,

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we can't fix a problem.

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Together, we've come together[br]to bear witness

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to these women's lost lives,

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but the time now is to move

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from mourning and grief

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to action and transformation.

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This is something that we can do.

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It's up to us.

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Thank you for joining us.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)