Video Transcription

INTERSECTIONS: how does identity and experience impact us?

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Arya, it’s so good to have you here today. So, we’re going to be talking about who we are and what makes us up is unique and varied.
Yeah, sounds cool.

So, to kick things off, how would you describe yourself?
Oh, hard question. Um, well, I’m a person of colour, I have a chronic illness, and I’m disabled.

So, when you’re naming those things, are you talking about the different intersecting parts of your life experience?
Yeah, pretty much. I think those are the different parts which make me, well, me. I like to think of them as a roundabout, you know, where the different streets are symbolic of the different things that I like or, well, are part of my history or heritage. For example, my disability, my race, my gender, the books I like, the games I play—everything, really.
Yeah, and that’s what we call intersectionality. It’s a really important word for all of us to know. It simply means that we’re made up of a lot of things, right?
Yeah, I mean, I think the best explanation I’ve had of what intersectionality is was with the packet of M&Ms, you know? You have all those pretty colours, but—
I just wish I had one to show you.
You know, it’s funny you say that, because—there you go!
Awesome! Let’s dig right in.

Right, so what’ve we got? We’ve got the greens, yellow, red, oranges—everything, really, right?
So, imagine that somewhere in this bowl there’s one M&M which isn’t just one of those colors. It’s all of them at once.
It’s pretty like a rainbow, right?
Yeah, to me, that’s what intersectionality truly is.
So, what you’re saying is the colours in a rainbow—and M&M—would represent maybe the language that we speak, a gender, a disability we might have, or really any other part of identity.
And the beauty of being a rainbow M&M is no two are the perfect match, right? They’re all still very unique.
Pretty much. But I think, at the same time, right, like this brown M&M here, ultimately, every M&M is chocolate on the inside. Everyone has an intersectional identity. It shouldn’t really be that extraordinary.
Yeah, and the beautiful thing about being a rainbow M&M is you can be many things at once.

An example that I can think of is when I was in high school. I wore my traditional Pakistani clothes to my school formal, and that was one way where different parts of my identity all existed at the same time.
Yeah, I think I have a story like that too. Um, what was it? Year five, I want to say. I’d just come back from India, and my school was hosting a multicultural day. So, I remember that I also wore a traditional Indian outfit to school, and I took this huge box of sweets my mom and I had made. But before I could give them to my friends or even walk the runway, I had one of my episodes, in which, you know, my vision went a bit blurry, I had a really bad headache. But because my friends and teachers knew how important it was for me to get up on that stage and talk about what it means to be Bengali, what it means to be a disabled young person, they made sure that I could do it despite, you know, what I was going through.
And I think that’s when I really felt supported for having an intersectional identity.
That’s a really beautiful story.
Thank you. And it reminds me of this thing a student once said—there might be one part of you that stands out most to other people, but that’s not entirely who you are, right? We’re made up of so many things. We have so many parts of ourselves, and sometimes we need that extra support, encouragement to be ourselves—
And I mean, entirely ourselves.
Definitely. And I think, too, whenever we meet someone new or even when we’re talking to someone we already know, it’s really important to consider how their intersectional identities are at play.
And at the same time, if there’s something we don’t know about them, we should be willing to ask and hear their stories too.
Exactly. And if we don’t create space for people, then who will?
For us?
Couldn’t agree more.
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