Brittany Elamparo
The women’s rights movement wouldn’t be the indomitable force it is today without the radical leadership of women of intersectional identities. A term coined by a Black woman professor by the name of Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989,
intersectionality is used to describe the depths of discrimination an individual faces when they experience multiple forms of oppression simultaneously. Black trans women are the embodiment of Crenshaw’s elaborate framework. When I advocate for myself as a Black trans woman, the Black, LGBTQ+, and women’s rights movements greatly benefit. I don’t always benefit from each of those respective movements, as the layers of my identity are often at war with one another. Black trans women are left in the crossfire to fend for ourselves. And still, we find ourselves fearlessly advocating for a just and equitable society capacious enough to free up the margins.