This is no time to be silent, says IWAU speaker

Disrupt the status quo.

That was the message today from Marissa Jenae Johnson, a prominent activist from Seattle and the first guest speaker for Inspiring Women Among Us Week at UNBC today.

Johnson was the keynote speaker in a session called “Thinking Outside the Box – REVOLUTION By Any Means Necessary.” 

“The context that I came into speak was about Inspiring Women Among Us and to talk about the ways that women and other marginalized identities can kind of disrupt the status quo.”

“Even though I work primarily with black communities, I think there are a lot of lessons from the activism I have done and the kind of political work that I do that are cross-applicable for anybody that wants to have political change or fight for justice in their communities, even if those identities are different.”   

Zoe Meletis, a co-organizer of IWAU, said that twice over the past two years UNBC has had white supremacy posters put up through the halls, and though they were taken down almost immediately, it shows that oppression is alive and thriving even here in Prince George.

Johnson had a takeaway point from her speech – that no one should be silent in the fight against oppression.  

“With the changes that we’re seeing across the west, with the rise of xenophobia, transphobia, anti-blackness, white supremacy and sexism that we’re seeing, we have to take really bold progressive stances.”  

“The people on the right and the neo-nazis are taking really bold stances and we can’t combat that by watering down our messaging,” said Johnson.   

“I don’t think anybody can sit these fights out and not be complicit in what’s happening across the globe right now.”

IWAU is hosting a number of events over the week, you can find a schedule by following this link.

 

“Whiteness is a hell of a drug,” @rissaoftheway pic.twitter.com/VT06T9qqcE

— Lady Cole (@Fairladycole) November 14, 2018