Blog Post #1

“It didn’t occur to me at the time that my taking up space, my sense of ‘authority,’ and my comfort with speaking in generalities could be connected with my race, class, able-bodies, and citizenship privileges located in the predominantly white middle-class university setting, or could serve to marginalize and/or silence women of color, working class, poor, and/or immigrant women, and/or women with disabilities” (Russo, 35). 

I found Russo’s piece to be extremely interesting. I was able to relate to her perspective, and understand the place she was coming from. I’ve always tried to use my voice to help; I never actually thought about how my voice in society was silencing so many others. I think it is really important to make sure minorities are able to speak up. Once they establish their position, then the more privileged should stand with them and offer their support.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCv4luaBfk4 This YouTube video has been posted on many different social media sites. I have seen it on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. I think this video is very important and relevant in today’s society. The woman speaking about her experience is African American, and she was racially profiled in a grocery store. She talked about how her sister-in-law, who is half white, used her voice to shut down the profiling. This woman did not feel like she could speak up in the moment because she did not want to cause a scene. Sometimes it’s our duty to speak up for those who can’t, but we also need to make sure we’re not the reason they can’t speak up. Both of these sources make great points about the voices of the privileged in society, and we should definitely do our research.