How We Work
Aligning Our Value and Pricing
When you arrive at a LJIST event, you are greeted by name. We have spent time thinking about you as an individual participant as well as the group as a whole. We have done our best to familiarize ourselves with the pronunciation of your name and made a map of the places you are calling…
Read MoreRacism is Not Possible without Sexism
Ending Sexism Together Series Introduction The system of racism could not have been established, institutionalized, and perpetuated without sexism and male domination. In our approach to ending racism, ending sexism isn’t an add-on or an “intersection,” it’s essential to achieving this goal. As a global community, we have been confused about what sexism is, how…
Read MoreEnding Sexism Together: Confusion 1
The Conflation of Sex and Gender To understand, heal from, and end sexism, we need to differentiate sex from gender.* The conflation of the words ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ has led to increased ineffectiveness in the fight to end both sexism and gender discrimination: the systematic and institutionalized mistreatment of people who do not rigidly perform…
Read MoreEnding Sexism Together: Confusion 2
The Myth that Sexism has Ended Despite important gains, the oppression of females persists. In the US we can celebrate specific historical and contemporary struggles where women have organized and won key rights, including suffrage, access to reproductive healthcare and reproductive autonomy, increased sexual freedom, and greater access to the paid work economy. Each of…
Read MoreEnding Sexism Together: Confusion 3
The Myth of Reverse Sexism Sexism targets females. Sexism, like any institutional oppression, is a linear power dynamic from the non-target group, the group with institutional power (males), against the target group (females). In other words, it can’t go in multiple or reverse directions. Females can, and do, mistreat, dislike, not prefer, act prejudice against,…
Read MoreDifferentiating People from Oppression
It’s not useful to confuse people with their oppression. At LJIST, we don’t use language like “oppressor” or “oppressed” or “perpetrator” or “victim.” People don’t want to be described or identified by their relationship to oppression. Instead, we use the language “target” and “non-target,” which describes people’s relationship to oppression rather than confusing or identifying…
Read MoreUnderstanding Institutional Oppression
We use an oppression lens because oppression acknowledges the role of institutional power. Institutional oppression is distinct from other forms of mistreatment, which are sometimes talked about as if they are interchangeable: Implicit Bias Prejudice Discrimination Implicit bias and prejudice are something that all human beings carry. Implicit bias and prejudice (thoughts) can play out…
Read MoreIncreasing Access through the LJIST Scholarship Fund
In 2020, we launched the LJIST Scholarship Fund to expand access to our programs, especially for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, people born and living outside the U.S., and young people and students. Through the generosity of our community, we have raised over $5,000 in scholarship funds since starting this program. In 2021, the…
Read MoreAdultism: The Training Ground for All Other Oppression
Born for Justice: How We Came Into the World Nine months before Rosa Parks became the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat to a White passenger on a bus in Jim Crow Alabama. Greta Thunberg initiated the School Strike for Climate, which eventually led to 4 million…
Read MoreStopping the Cycle of Oppression: How Our Early Hurts Perpetuate Injustice
The Nature of Human Beings: Spontaneous Healing from Hurts As young people we experienced many hurts. Hurts can be intentional or accidental. They can happen consciously or unawarely. Perhaps, like me, when you hear the word “hurt” you think of physical hurts and those are included here. For example, an unintentional hurt is falling while…
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