AUTHENTICITY IS BRAVERY: Justice Warriors Series 3

The most important thing [we] bring to the table as a social activist and sociologist is our truth-- authenticity

AUTHENTICITY IS BRAVERY

Zelda and Michelle are authentic and intentional, embodying their calling as social scientists and justice warriors. They each reveal how authenticity means showing up as your fullest self and taking up space even when it feels like walls are closing in. Their vulnerability has taught me that the most important thing I bring to the table as a social activist and sociologist is my truth, which is to say that I must exercise compassion and remember that all people are people, and we all deserve a seat at the proverbial table. But we must go a step further and ensure each person at the table has nourishing and desirable food to eat, along with the tools to get that food into our unique bodies. I may have put a writer’s poetic spin on things, but I cannot help but see the beauty in all of life, and I like to think my mentors feel the same way.

Zelda realizes that when her career is in conflict with her values, she has to pivot and find a way to continue providing for herself financially while maintaining boundaries that protect her values. Zelda shares the importance of putting her sociological imagination, passion, and grit as a labor organizer together as a key to the proverbial success of her career. (Z., personal communication, April 10, 2023).

My subjects reveal that they have to wear many hats to maintain financial stability. The work in social justice affects each subject emotionally. This emotional connection to the meaningful work of creating equitable spaces for all humans is hopefully the key takeaway from my interviews, Both subjects consider their vocation a calling rather than a career or job. I have learned that it is okay to pave your own way to stay true to your values and authentic voice. I have also learned that it is equally brave and authentic to enter a broken system and find ways to make change from within. Always lead from your truth and learn from your ancestors.

Johnson and Zelda want students to learn that Sociologists must work to “do no harm” in all aspects of their work. As a researcher, I was inspired and taken aback by my subjects’ candid conversations. Their perseverance inspires me despite toxic social constructions at work and in healing communities. I am empowered by their advice regarding how to be an anti-racist, fight educational oppression, and, as Brene Brown says, "stand your sacred ground” even if it means stepping away from a linear pursuit towards a squiggly journey. I thank them for showing me where there is room at the table for voices like mine to link up with my mentors and ancestors in the fight for sustainable equity, maybe even meritocracy.

Dehumanization is denying uniquely human attributes to categories and groups of people that represent them as animal-like, inanimate, non-sentient, sub-human, or transient material objects

Finally, my respective conversations led me to the same loud conclusion; marginalized voices need to be heard in order to put an end to dehumanizing language and behaviors.

Dehumanization denies uniquely human attributes to categories and groups of people representing them as animal-like, inanimate, non-sentient, sub-human, or transient material objects (Haslam, 2006). We see this in the prevalence of human slavery, human trafficking, and even in the unconscionable naming of the COVID-19 virus after Wuhan, a city in the People's Republic of China. Johnson and Zelda’s stories reveal how dehumanizing language is used to discount the lived experiences of oppressed groups to maintain white-male-colonial and capitalist systems of power that strip dignity and autonomy, creating a dangerous divide between dominant subordinate groups. They encourage me to pursue work that facilitates connections that matter, connections that bring wonder and humanity back into the human race. All humans deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and deserve the chance to embody their truest selves with their one short life, granted that they do not harm or oppress others in the process.

Asking Zelda additional thematic questions would have kept us on track for understanding sociology as a career. Still, I am more inspired by her personal story than a linear journey in any professional path. I love to interview different subjects to broaden my sociological imagination.

Talking with Johnson and Zelda has increased my curiosity, opening up new research questions (RQ) as I continue my squiggly journey in the social sciences. The Justice Warrior Series has been a great experience sharpening my skills as an ethnographer and researcher through different interviewing methods. I spoke on the phone candidly for 3 hours during my interview with Zelda. For my ethnography with Johnson, we met over Zoom in a group presentation with a clear time boundary of 1 hour, and she proceeded to use PowerPoint and slides to teach me about her journey. I learned about each subject’s personality by the way each approached and prepared for the interview with me.

I relate to Zelda’s communication style as a professor, as she is comfortable talking right off the cuff. Whereas Johnson, a train-the-trainer DEI facilitator, feels most confident and comfortable using slides and presentations to keep herself focused and on task. I found Johnson’s interview style to be most reproducible because she applied visuals and audio that I can look over and reference for many years.

All humans deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and deserve the chance to embody their truest selves with their one short life-- so long as we do no harm.