Undercurrent-Issue-Fall-Winter-2014-3

earning an income showed me some of the intersections in her life of gender and class in a way that Iwould never have been able to grasp theoretically as a middle-class, Canadian university student. Inturn, I saw how my experiences also shaped my life. This shift in thinking was only possible through myengagement with my host sister in a loving, non-judgmental way, and a rereading of my experiencethrough different feminist texts that pointed out my own privileged and sometimes ethnocentric thinking.My learning took place not just in Nicaragua, but in reflecting on the important things that my time inNicaragua taught me once back in Canada." Intersectional activism is vital if feminists are to achieve anything. Alliances between womenmust take place in the real world, rather than just in an abstract sphere of “shoulds,” and require thatfeminists participate in an ongoing reflection on what sort of relationships they are engaged in. Myexperiences in Nicaragua as a young woman living beside other young women were important for mebecause it taught me a lot about what solidarity looks and feels like, not just what it sounds like. AsChandra Mohanty (1984) states, “Beyond sisterhood there is still racism, colonialism, andimperialism!” (p. 348). Although as women, we have common experiences of oppression, as feministactivists we must recognize that the lived experiences of women are also shaped by ongoing racism,colonialism, and class differences. We must avoid reducing the experience of “Third World women” (or“women” in general) to one homogenous monolith. The challenges that women face are shaped by theirunique location at the intersection of different global forces; our struggles are not identical, and trying tosolve problems based on assumed sameness does more harm than good. Through my analysis of thisexperience, I now have a broader understanding of what solidarity means to me. It means beingunderstanding and inclusive of difference, and listening to women about their experiences andperspectives, rather than speaking for them or over them. It means practicing feminist activism in a waythat underscores the fact that our liberation is tied up with one another, and that none of us are truly freeuntil we all are. It means lifting all women up with us, rather than standing on the backs of marginalizedvoices to make further gains for the privileged. Solidarity across borders is a constant practice, not just alevel one can reach. Rather than being reductive of the lived experiences of women in an effort to fightpatriarchal oppression, we must engage in the constant practice of trying to understand what solidarityacross borders and difference might look like.72