Things We Saw Today: Jessica Williams’ Speech About Racist Gatekeeping at the Sundance Women’s March

You must watch a fiery Jessica Williams talking about the lesson her mom taught her at the #sundance #womensmarch. Truly incredible. pic.twitter.com/KfysBmTcCe

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 21, 2017

Jessica Williams attended one of the many Women’s March events around the globe this past weekend, and someone took video of part of the speech that she delivered. It’s a tragicomic speech about a conversation that she had with her mother when she was a young girl, about institutional racism and the biases that she would face in her life. In listening to the speech, the crowd seemed uncertain how to react to the hard truths that Williams says here; they laugh, uncertainly, and applaud at unusual times. Do your best to ignore those disparate reactions and just listen to the content of the speech. (via Blavity)

• Speaking of hard truths, it’s important to acknowledge that the marches this past weekend weren’t as inclusive as they could’ve been. Yes, thousands and thousands of people marched. But many of the people in attendance at these marches were white women–and many of those participants noticeably did not show up for Black Lives Matter protests, or the protests against the Dakota Access pipeline, or the ongoing efforts to restore clean water in Flint, Michigan. Devon Maloney points out all this and more in “Some Inconvenient Truths About The Women’s March On Washington” at Good Magazine.
• Chelsea Clinton spoke out against the comedians who’ve been mocking Trump’s son, Barron, in this post on her Facebook: “Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does-to be a kid. Standing up for every kid also means opposing POTUS policies that hurt kids.” (via Daily Dot)
• There’s a documentary coming out soon about transgender YouTuber Gigi Gorgeous, and it looks rad.
• Here are some cool pics of X-23’s fighting skills in Logan.
• When it comes to Oscars nominations, many people tend to see things in black and white. Literally and figuratively. As a result, we all forget that Asian and hispanic voices are also getting ignored during the Hollywood awards season.

What did you all see today?

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