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
Dear Anselm A&H, Thank you again for your sponsorship of my work. I had the best summer of my adult life! The privilege to take time off of work to focus on research, lots of reading, and writing on my discoveries and budding ideas was truly a joy. The process was intimidating at times but I was in good hands with my mentor and advisor gently pushing me to trust my gut and keep going. The research I completed this past summer will continue and become my honors thesis project. I'm thrilled that I've been given the opportunity to get such a significant jump start on what I hope continues to be unique and nuanced research! In Gratitude, Finn Finneran