Radical Welcome

There is no such thing as one-way liberation.

I was talking with my friend Bridget about this symposium, and how I’ve been trying to find the vocabulary to describe what I want to do. “It’s kind of like intersectionality, but also sort of the opposite? Because that is about how one person’s identities intersect to create their privilege or lack of. And the symposium is about how our needs might not intersect, but advocating for them does. I’m trying to find the words for how, when I advocate to have my needs met, I’m creating space for somebody else to have their needs met, even if our needs are very different from mine. Is there a word for that?” 

They immediately responded, “There is no such thing as one-way liberation.” *

I felt like a puzzle piece clicked into place.  

By engaging in the daily work of advocacy and institutional transformation, you are creating liberation for people who may not share any of your needs. That is what radical welcome means.

—Aili Huber

* Attribution here: Bridget said they thought this was Audre Lorde, but the best googling I can do has it as Glennon Doyle, when she was on Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast. It seems like she was paraphrasing Audre Lorde, who said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives. […] Our struggles are particular, but we are not alone.” Lorde was essentially talking about intersectionality, but Doyle was getting at another thing—what I’m calling Radical Welcome.