Taking Up Space (Episode 3)

This week on the show Shaunna and Lisa discuss what it means to take up (too much) space. This is particularly important for folks with privileged identities to think about as they can, and often do, take up too much of it in places they don’t belong. This conversation comes in the wake of a George Washington University white associate professor’s disclosure in a Medium article she portrayed herself as an Afro-Caribbean woman (and North African, and Afro-Latinx, among others) for her entire career. By assuming this false identity, she took up space in a place where she should not have, and took away from the experiences of those who actually do belong in the black community. It was an act of white violence and betrayal. Shaunna and Lisa discuss the violence of her actions and the pain that remains. Although they may be less overt, we can face similar situations in our friend groups or triathlon clubs where a person with a privileged social identity is causing harm. In these situations, it is important we center the feelings and perspectives of those who have been hurt by these actions and collectively turn our backs to the people who are taking up too much space. In doing so, we can stand for the collective values of a group that does not tolerate oppression or violence, and work to keep those causing harm from dominating the narrative.

Read more about the reaction to this deception at:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-layered-deceptions-of-jessica-krug-the-black-studies-professor-who-hid-that-she-is-white

https://history.columbian.gwu.edu/our-statement-jessica-krug?fbclid=IwAR0FHdCrRdSdoNW79ZLMlerGa0h-icb7_fL35eRNw9iggxRuo1mn6WOEYi4