Last week’s theme for me was power and how that played out when it is attached to privilege. When I began organizing professionally four years ago, my boss told me that, if I did it right, I could become one of the most powerful people in my region. I vividly remember that conversation and my eye roll response because what did an impoverished single mom know about power, right?
No one ever talks to marginalized folks about “power;” it’s something we read about and recognize in movies. But, here I am, four years later, dissecting it, blaming it, and learning how to wield it.
Growing up poor, “power” was never something that was displayed in my life. In fact, it was something I only came into contact with when watching shows like “Dallas:” rich white people plotting and scheming to become richer by destroying each other (I know, I chuckled at that, too, and tried to remember who shot J.R.). But power always equated with wealth to me, leaving me believing that it would always be out of reach; power was unattainable. Well, unattainable until it wasn’t.
A Tool
Although it has taken me years to begin to understand it, power is something that I know is within our reach, despite our circumstances, but we have to do some work to uncover it. Just like everything else in this capitalist world, it comes more easily to those with wealth, and, think about it, we’ve allowed ourselves to be tricked into believing that we can’t hold power because our hands are filled with struggle. But what if we flipped the switch? What if we began to change the way we viewed our circumstance and saw that what the wealthy want us to believe is a deficit is actually a powerful tool.
Power presents itself in a lot of ways. It could be fast food employees going on strike for a $15/hr minimum wage. It could be childcare centers shutting down until reimbursement rates are adjusted (speaking of, can you imagine how quickly the government agencies would have to work on getting childcare centers back to work? Talk about crippling the economy….). It could be parents organizing to speak at Board of Education meetings in favor or in opposition of a policy. Power is petitions and emails, phone calls and texting parties. It’s town halls and meetings with elected officials. And it is all possible if we begin to speak of our responsibilities and services as valuable. Maybe that’s the key to wielding power: belief that the values and skills you possess are valuable.
Intimidation
And believe me when I say that privilege doesn’t usually take the time to research our kind of power. Our power isn’t seen as threatening. We’re seen as intellectually handicapped because we don’t have a string of education degrees behind our names. We’re seen as unmotivated because we are working for non-livable wages. We’re seen as incapable because we don’t have capital. And pushing against power can knock it off balance because they are unprepared for a fight of nothing but strong will. They don’t understand or, perhaps, remember what it’s like to fight for something when you have nothing to lose. Perhaps they don’t remember that not everything worth fighting for comes with a price tag; things like dignity, integrity, and self-respect can’t be bought. And what do you bring to a fight when your money and privilege don’t make your opponent cower in fear?
I was threatened with a lawsuit the other day. My initial reaction was to freak out because: A) I can’t afford a lawyer. B) I can’t afford a lawyer. And C) I can’t afford a lawyer. After the initial wave of anxiety died down, which took a few seconds, my rational brain took over and reminded me that I, too, could sue for the same offense. I also heard my grandma and mom saying, “Ya can’t get blood out of a turnip” in my head and realized that I really don’t have much that anyone could take. I don’t have money. I have a car that’s not paid off. And I have my kids (teenagers, by the way, to put that in perspective. Haha). So, what may work as a viable threat against people with equal amounts of privilege kind of falls short with people who are living paycheck to paycheck.
I have nothing for anyone else to own, and that’s a part of power that we need to embrace, y’all. Having little or nothing to lose is power within its own right. Low-wage jobs can come a dime a dozen. Jobs without health insurance and benefits can come a dime a dozen. So, let’s stop feeling as if we are powerless and start being intimidated by power less.
Onward,
Amy Jo
