The practice of holding community members accountable while maintaining investment in their growth, a necessary skill when movements contain people at different positions within intersecting hierarchies.
Sor Juana's letters reveal someone who could critique Church authority, intellectual pretension, and injustice while remaining in relationship with those she critiqued. She practiced what might be called loving critique—direct about problems while assuming the humanity and potential of others. This is essential in intersectional work because movements include people with different access to power, different histories with oppression, and different positions within multiple systems. A person can be marginalized in one way (by gender, for example) while holding power in another (by class or race). Loving critique says: I see your impact on me and others. I maintain relationship. I believe you can transform. It rejects both the naiveté that critique is unnecessary and the cynicism that people cannot change. In practice, it means: staying in rooms with people who've harmed us; naming harm clearly; creating conditions for accountability and change; balancing truth-telling with possibility. This framework honors the complexity that real intersectional communities require.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
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