Belonging Contradictions: Lived experiences across Race, Gender, and Sexuality

The Belonging Contradictions: Lived Experiences of Belonging across Race, Gender, and Sexuality panel will explore how different forms of othering impact belonging within civil society. The discussion will cover recognition, inclusion, agency, and a sense of connection. Persia, Kazani, and Zama Mngomezulu will discuss these variants of othering with Christian M. Ivey. The conversation examines how institutionalized power structures intersect with race, sexuality, and gender. The panelists will also discuss practical ways to move forward with these intersections in mind rather than taking a non-targeted policy approach. This is crucial to creating a world where everyone belongs. 

During the breakout session, the panelists will raise the stakes by interrogating how Western epistemology and ontology dictate Civil society’s constitutive exclusions within a larger framework of hegemonies. Persia will read a short story, followed by Christian reading the definition of belonging from "Belonging without Othering."

After the panel conversation, Christian will encourage the audience to think about ways to expand the "we" beyond the present to address the future. They will ask the audience: "What does it take for us to belong?" The audience members at their tables will discuss the possible and impossible amongst themselves.

Location: HJK Commons stage