February 24, 2014 - "Toxic Twitter" or Toxic Racism?

Prison abolitionist and feminist blogger Mariame Kaba, co-author of "Interlopers on Social Media: Feminism, Women of Color and Oppression" responds to anti-Black assumptions in Michelle Goldberg's article, "Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars".  Goldberg's article unleashed a firestorm of critique and counter-critique after its publication in The Nation in January.

 

"In many cultures, it's a sign of respect for someone to call you out directly on your crap," Kaba says.  Rather than seeing women of color, and particularly Black women, as interlopers into a formerly safe space, she suggests, white feminists need to recognize that "the good old days for white folks were bad old days for us."  Kaba sees the intensity and passion of the debate as a positive development, indicating that feminism is more vibrant and including more voices than ever before.

Listen now (33:16)

Also on this show, Maria Guillen: A Life in Labor

Listen to the full show, including a sneak peek at Pratibha Parmar's film, "Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth", available through the end of February from PBS's American Masters series.