ORANEET SHIKMAH OREVI: I am marching in solidarity with the Women’s March, because I believe the Women’s March is a place for me in all of my identities as a Jewish woman of color, and I will not be separated from any of my sisters, people, or mishpacha (family). My identity never quite neatly fit into any one box. I am a proud Israeli-American, Mizrahi (Arab/Middle Eastern) Jewish, bisexual and queer woman of color who is deeply committed to ending the Occupation of Palestine and who grew up speaking Hebrew and Spanish.
As a result of feeling connected to many often-separated communities, the borders drawn across them by racism, sexism, and other systems of oppression also cut into my sense of self; these divisions have often left me angry without the language to confront their symbolic violence. But, I have found a place in the Women’s March, because it promotes our growth in finding new language together and pushing back against these destructive divisions. The Women’s March has become a powerful platform where we have the opportunity to engage in dialogue — to listen, learn, and educate ourselves about all of our intersections. It is a movement that has the capacity to hold all of the complex parts of us, as an intersectional movement for our joint liberation. More here.