In The Root Episode 2: The Power of Privilege, Dominique Drakeford speaks with activist-educators Ericka Hart, Blair Imani and Rachel Ricketts, discussing the functions of privilege and the importance of applying critical and intersectional approaches toward dismantling white supremacy in fashion and beyond.
Rachel Ricketts is a global thought leader + outspoken champion for Black and Indigenous womxn. As a racial justice activist, lawyer, healer, speaker + author, she educates white folx on their role in perpetuating white supremacy, and helps folx of colour heal from internalized oppression. Rachel’s work has been featured in Vox, Mind Body Green, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Elephant Journal, 21Ninety, Black Girl in Om and Thrive. She has worked with prestigious international companies including Google, WeWork, Lululemon and TELUS and presented at renowned conferences including SXSW 2018 + 2019. Rachel’s first book My Love Includes Anger will be published by Atria Books in 2021.
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Ericka Hart, M.Ed., D/s, pronouns: she/they, is a Black queer femme activist, writer, highly acclaimed speaker and award-winning sexuality educator with a Master’s of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University. Her work broke ground when she went topless showing her double mastectomy scars in public in 2016. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at Columbia University's School of Social Work.
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Blair Imani is a critically-acclaimed historian, outspoken advocate and activist, and dynamic public speaker. The author of two historical books: Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History (2018) and Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and The Black American Dream (2020), she centers women and girls, global Black communities, and the LGBTQ community. She takes education further on Patreon and provides publicly accessible weekly lessons on Instagram. Blair has appeared on Fox News and MSNBC, presented at colleges and universities, spoken at conferences around the world, and delivered powerful talks for organizations and brands including TEDx and GLAAD.
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