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I wanted this June to be a celebration of the books I love, and I still wish to do so, but I also want to be intentional about it and make room for voices that need to be heard.
I’m going to make every effort, during Pride and beyond, to use the ideas of intersectionality and intentionality to select books to review . Like the quote from Hooks says, paying attention to where our identities meet and how they are affected by patriarchy is the only way to really understand the culture we live in.
Black citizens are fighting for justice and equality. Pride would not have come about without the fearlessness of Black and Latinx trans activists who started the Stonewall Riots. There’s so much to work left to be done.
For a comprehensive explanation of the origins and evolution of intersectionality, I recommend Vox’s long-form article, The Intersectionality Wars.