Embedded Files
abolition - a broad political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment.
accountability - process of taking responsibility for harm, apologizing, and committing to change (discussed in depth in this zine).
authentic/authenticity - completely genuine.
BIPOC - Black Indigenous Person of Color. This umbrella term represents racial + ethnic identities that are most marginalized, harmed, and dis-empowered in our society. QTBIPOC = Queer Trans + BIPOC. Those who are QT + BIPOC are even more disempowered.
capacity - mental or emotional ability to care for one another.
capitalism - economic and political system where the country's trade and industry are controlled by private businesses with minimal state/government interference. Capital = wealth. In america, a capitalist country, this is how wealth is distributed:
Top 5% of the population (~16 million people) own 65% of wealth
Lowest 80% of the population (~270 million people) own 11.7% of wealth
Very few people hoard most of the money in america. American media, research, and politics are funded by money. This means those who have the most money have the most influence in our society. If we break up the wealth by race, and take assets (such as cars and property) minus debt (graphic here):
white families on average have $63,000
Black families on average have $808
carceral/incarceration - terms that describe prison/imprisonment on many different levels (not just within jails, but also within ourselves, relationships, actions, and mindsets).
cis/cisgender - person who identifies as the gender they were assigned at birth.
cisheteropatriarchy - cisgender + heterosexual + patriarchy. System of power that cisgender, heterosexual, men benefit from and that harms women and the LGBTQIA+ community. Often paired with "white" to become "white-cisheteropatriarchy" to signify that white, cis, het, men have the most power in our society. See "oppression" definition for the different levels of harm this system dominates.
colonization - process of taking land and resources from the original inhabitants by force and imposing a system of governance without consent. Colonizers believe they are superior to those they colonize.
collective - a group.
criminalization - process by which society decides which activities to punish. Society deems groups of people to be “criminals” who are undeserving of rights and protections once they have broken "laws." Criminalization enacts abuse. Some are excused from punishment (for example, presidential pardons) and entire groups are deemed more or less punishable.
embody/embodiment - to unite or represent physically. Often used in the phrase 'embodied emotions' to refer to connecting emotions to body sensations. From Embody Lab's definition: "Embodiment is a process of realizing each aspect of our self. Feeling and experiencing its connection to the whole. As the unapologetic expression of that full self, embodiment can be understood as the [opposite] of oppression."
framework - an essential set of beliefs underlying a concept or idea.
intersectionality - describes how systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class and other forms of discrimination “intersect” to create unique dynamics and effects.
liberation - freedom; specifically from systems of oppression.
gender binary - The idea that there are only two genders — male and female — which are assigned at birth based on genitalia, each marked by very specific physical characteristics, behaviors and roles, and that individuals cannot change genders or exist between or beyond conventional notions of male or female. Gender nonconformity (GNC) is when the way a person appears or behaves doesn’t match social expectations around the gender binary.
generative - creating and exchanging empowerment.
mad - "madness” used to be a widely accepted term in society to describe mentally ill and/or neurodivergent people. The reclamation of “mad” rebels against psychiatry's power to diagnose. Mad activists seek acceptance within society as they are, rather than being seen as a problem to be fixed or seeking inclusion within a broken system.
malady - illness, disorder, condition
marginalization - to exclude a group of people so they have less access to a voice, resources, and freedom.
microaggression - small-scale verbal, emotional, or physical interaction between those of different races, cultures, beliefs, or genders that un-intentionally causes harm.
mutual aid - people work together to meet the needs of everyone in the community. Differs from charity, which features a one-way relationship between an organization and recipients, and often responds to the effects of inequality but not its causes. Mutual aid is an act of solidarity that builds sustained networks between neighbors.
neoliberalism - a set of economic policies and practices that increase the role of the free market (capitalism) and make changes to state (government) policy.
The free market is an economic system where prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses.
Neoliberalism has dominated america, Canada, and the UK for over 30 years. In this time, political and economic policies have changed so that private companies have limited government regulation (for example, lots of tax cuts and incentives) but the companies have large political influence . The result is governments provide little support to the public, such as healthcare, and instead, private companies provide these services (that's why there is no universal free healthcare in america).
In neoliberalism, private companies "compete" to sell products to consumers. It reasons that companies with the most buyers have the "best products" and deserve to make the most money. In reality, this competition is held on completely unequal grounds (discussed later).
neurodivergent - person whose brain functioning differs from what's considered "normal" or "neurotypical." This is an umbrella term where folks experience differences from neurotypicality in a variety of ways and intensities.
oppression - exercising power over others in an unjust and harmful manner (see the four I's of oppression) and graphic below.
Above image: Four "I's" of Oppression graphic. More in-depth explanation here.
Below image: A a graphic that shows forms of oppression. Many of these forms are related to one another. They are maintained through the "I's" of oppression. For example, let's take look at 'cissexism:'
Ideological cissexism: "There are only two genders. Those who claim they are not one of these genders are inferior." The belief that gender is binary and that transgender/nonbinary/GNC folks are inferior comes from many sources, including white supremacy, colonialism, 'science', and religion.
Institutional cissexism: "People are assigned either female or male at birth." "There are only two options for restrooms: men and women." The medical field and restrooms are examples of institutions that upholds the belief.
Interpersonal cissexism: "You transgenders are freaks!" "I would never give a trans person a job." "I'm not going to use your correct pronouns." People interact with one another to uphold the belief. This helps the dominant group (cisgender people) maintain privilege given to them.
Internalized cissexism: "I believe I am inferior and less-than because I am transgender." Cissexism is internalized and those that are oppressed by interpersonal, institutional, and ideological oppression harm themselves.
patriarchy - system where cisgender men are primarily in power over morals, politics, religion, families, and more. Patriarchal societies give most authority to men while marginalizing women, femininity, and gender-variance.
practice - a way of putting values into action. a practitioner is someone who is experienced in a particular practice.
privilege - unearned benefits and advantages from systems that oppress others. Privileged people often accept false negative assumptions about oppressed groups and believe there superiority is justified.
white privilege is a special set of advantages granted to white people; especially those who resemble those already in power in society.
punitive - inflicting or relating to punishment.
queer - used as an umbrella term for the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Queer used to be a slur and since has been reclaimed by many as a celebration of not fitting into social norms.
resilience - ability to resist unfavorable effects.
self-determination - a person makes decisions to control their own life. decisions are not made by others on their behalf.
settler-colonialism - indigenous peoples of a colonized region are displaced by non-native settlers who permanently form a society there.
sex work - any form of labor involving trading something sexual for something of value. The distinction between prostitution and sex work is that prostitution is a legal term describing a criminal offense that penalizes performing sexual acts in exchange for something of value. Sex work describes a broader range of activities such as phone sex, exotic dancing, creating pornography, some of which are legal in the US.
The sex trade describes an informal economy where individuals trade something sexual for something of value.
state - a nation ran by a government. example: "the state" funds police to respond to violence. a response to violence outside of "the state" is community response teams.
systematic - often used to describe how institutions work together to oppress marginalized people.
trans/transgender - one’s gender is different from conventional or cultural expectations based on the sex that person was assigned at birth.
transformative justice - a framework for responding to harm outside of government funded resources so survivors can seek healing, harmers can seek accountability and change, and the conditions for harm are transformed to reduce likelihood of it reoccurring (discussed in-depth in the zine).
trauma - intense physical and psychological stress reactions with lasting unfavorable effects. Resiliency and personal experience influence impact. It can be caused by single events and/or constant stressors. symptoms do not need to be immediate nor directly tied to an event.
western/westernization - western culture is the lifestyle and core values of Europe and the countries colonized by Europeans. For example, UK, America, Canada. Some countries, such as in the Latin Americas, resist or adopt western culture more than others. Core values include individualism, personal responsibility, materialism, scientific rationalism (science is more important than emotions and morals), and the rule of law. These values have origins from Catholicism and the Enlightenment. Westernization is the process of a minority group adopting the customs and attitudes of the dominant (western) culture. This process usually happens by force and as a means of survival. See these videos: Me or We? Cultural Difference between East and West and The Indigenous world view vs. Western world view.
white savior complex - white people from a developed nation or privileged positions enter spaces of oppressed peoples with a mindset and goal to "save" them. In reality, this act is to make the white folks feel better about themselves and/or force beliefs and customs they benefit from. The complex is made up of policies, charities, nonprofits, award groups, and more.
white supremacy - beliefs and systems that enable white people to maintain power over people of other races. Systems that uphold white supremacy include healthcare, housing, government, and jobs. Examples are how non-white infant mortality rates are significantly higher and how white people are more likely to get a job than a non-white person with the same qualifications. White supremacy culture includes behaviors, norms, and standards of white supremacy that may be harder to see or name. Characteristics include perfectionism, defensiveness, valuing quantity over quality, power hoarding, either/or thinking, and fear of open conflict. See more on White Supremacy Culture in Organizations.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse