Panel
The events of this year have frequently been called “unprecedented.” On a scale of 0 to 100, Google Trends reports a worldwide spike in the use of that term between the beginning and end of March, with interest peaking at 100 between March 22-28, 2020. Admittedly, the year has been filled with what seems to be unsolicited and surprising events. It’s difficult not to be taken aback by each new issue that arises, and for that reason, “unprecedented” seems appropriate. But while this descriptive motif fits the rhetorical bill of crisis reporting, it also fails to acknowledge the ongoing timelines of resilience and violence that underlie the seemingly anomalous.
Related to Kimberlé Crenshaw’s notion of intersectionality, Patricia Hill Collins’ concept of matrix thinking offers a way to address how various space-time networks of systemic oppression and violence influence and develop one another. Through matrix thinking, the oft-siloed geographies and histories of racism, the pandemic, and environmental destruction can be navigated holistically. Taking the transgenerational and intersectional dimensions of community organizing into account, the “emerging” is no longer just about new acts and legacies of change, but the deep histories of organized resilience (and violence) that beget and inform liberatory strategies of the present and future. In this context, speakers Geneviève Wallen, Fallon Simard, Ashley Jane Lewis, and Syrus Marcus Ware address the multidimensional, multiscalar registers of their care and community work.
Artists:
Ashley Jane Lewis
Fallon Simard
Geneviève Wallen
Syrus Marcus Ware