Finn Finneran L&S Arts & Humanities
I am not a Woman, I’m a Hatchet – A White Working-Class Anti-Racism?
I am researching anti-racist working-class lesbian literature of the 1960s-90s, with a focus on the work of Judy Grahn and Leslie Feinberg. Judy Grahn is a poet, publisher, and leading figure in the Bay Area’s lesbian feminist movement. Leslie Feinberg (zie, hir pronouns) was a transgender activist, historian, fiction writer, and life-long anti-imperialist. Both were white, working-class participants in anti-racist political struggles. My research seeks to understand how these authors theorized cross-racial solidarity and antiracism in the post-civil rights era, which saw the dawn of liberation movements for people of color, women, lesbians, and transgender people. For the sake of today’s anti-racist struggles, I want to investigate whether Feinberg and Grahn have unique political perspectives that have gone un-interrogated. How did their working-class experiences inform their politics on race, racism, and solidarity? Furthermore, what might come of a conversation between their work and US Marxist theories of whiteness and white race treason? My central question revolves around whether an anti-racist politic can be gleaned from working-class lesbian (defectors) of the white race.
Message To Sponsor
I am so grateful for this new opportunity in life! I'm a re-entry student, so much of my intellectual life has been spent unfettered and undisciplined. For years I've studied anti-racist politics, movement history, and lesbian literature for fun, but not with any sort of project or goal in mind. Receiving the funding to go deep into these interests with focus and support is truly a dream come true. So thank you! I look forward to the challenge.