I am a feminist. I am an anarchist. To me, any discussion of power is essentially one about freedom, and talk of freedom is impossible without a reckoning with power.
In “Rethinking Anarchy,” the Spanish social theorist Carlos Taibo reminds us that “anarchists have frequently defined themselves first on the basis of what they reject — the state, capitalism, inequality, patriarchal society, war, militarism, repression in all its forms, authority.”
So what is the power that my freedom requires?
As a woman of color, I define power initially by what it is not. To be powerful is not to be what a man can do or be. Men are not my yardstick. If men themselves are not free of the ravages of racism, capitalism and other forms of oppression, it is not enough to say I want to be equal to them. As long as patriarchy remains unchallenged, men will continue to be the default and the standard against which everything is measured.
