If We Were Kin: Race, Identification, and Intimate Political Appeals

In June 1973, Sylvia Rivera fought her way to the stage of a gay liberation movement rally in New York City's Washington Square Park to address the predominantly white, middle-class lesbian and gay crowd. She reprimanded them for failing to fulfill their responsibilities to their gay brothers and sisters in jail and called them into the politics of STAR. Lisa Beard's book "If We Were Kin" explores how a sense of intimacy calls people into political community, challenging atomized and hierarchical racial formations and advancing powerful visions of political relationships rooted in mutuality and shared freedom.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 11 May 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Amid ideological rifts within the U.S. gay liberation movement in June 1973, thousands of individuals converged in New York City's Washington Square Park to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. During the rally, Sylvia Rivera, co-founder of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), made her way to the stage, addressing the predominantly white, middle-class lesbian and gay crowd. Despite the boos and jeers from the audience, Rivera passionately reprimanded the crowd for neglecting their responsibilities towards their gay brothers and sisters in jail, outlining the personal sacrifices she had made for the movement. She also urged them to engage in STAR's political activism, emphasizing that the movement aimed to serve all individuals, regardless of their gender or class affiliations. Rivera's appeal successfully navigated a complex dynamic of distance and belonging, simultaneously shaming the movement for its assimilatory tendencies while invoking notions of kinship and inviting her listeners to participate in an expansive multi-issue liberation politics.

How does a sense of intimacy foster political community? If We Were Kin delves into the very essence of politics—how it is constructed, contested, and transformed—and how these struggles are intricately linked to questions about power and political change. Lisa Beard explores a distinct lineage of appeals that challenge fragmented and hierarchical racial formations in the United States and advocate for powerful visions of political relationships grounded in mutual respect and shared freedom. This exploration spans a range of sites within racial justice and queer/trans liberation movements, including speeches by James Baldwin and Sylvia Rivera in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as contemporary immigrant justice campaigns led by the antiracist LGBTQ organization Southerners on New Ground (SONG). By tracing these appeals, Beard sheds light on the ongoing struggles to forge inclusive and equitable political spaces that honor the diversity of experiences and identities within the broader LGBTQ+ community.

Weight: 350g
Dimension: 235 x 237 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197517321