Intersectionality draws attention to invisibilities that exist in feminism, in anti-racism, in class politics,... — Kimberle Williams Crenshaw

Intersectionality draws attention to invisibilities that exist in feminism, in anti-racism, in class politics, so, obviously, it takes a lot of work to consistently challenge ourselves to be attentive to aspects of power that we don't ourselves experience.

Author: Kimberle Williams Crenshaw

Insight: When you're fighting against one form of unfairness—say, workplace discrimination based on gender—it's easy to assume everyone in that struggle faces things the same way. But a woman facing both sexism and racism at work has a fundamentally different experience than one facing sexism alone. That invisible gap is what Crenshaw is pointing to. It's not that movements are intentionally leaving people behind; it's that we naturally tend to center the struggles we know personally. This matters in everyday life more than we might think. We all belong to multiple groups at once—different combinations of gender, race, class, ability, age. The blindspots aren't character flaws; they're just the natural result of human perspective. You can't fully see what you haven't lived through. But that's where the work comes in. It requires genuine curiosity about experiences different from yours, and a willingness to notice when your solutions or conversations might leave certain people out. The harder truth is that this kind of attention doesn't happen accidentally. It demands we stay uncomfortable enough to keep asking: who's not in this room? Whose problem isn't being solved by what we're doing? It's exhausting work, which is probably why Crenshaw emphasizes we need to do it "consistently."