A Different Way of Working: The Insurgent Sociology of Shana M. griffin

Abstract

Through her art, education, and activism, Shana M. griffin addresses issues that matter. Her projects and publications call attention to racialized sexism and segregation, to poverty and predatory policing, to housing insecurity and homophobia. They illuminate as well, however, the profound wisdom, creativity, and consciousness of generations of Black women whose refusals of unlivable destinies have enabled Black people to survive and even thrive in the face of calculated white supremacist cruelty and contempt. Yet even more important than the matter of her oeuvre is the manner by which it is conducted. From her standpoint at the intersections of art and activism, of scholarship and social struggle, griffin has formulated new ways of working that are well worthy of emulation by others. She creates works of art that are not designed for connoisseurship or collection but instead seek to shake up social relations and imbue people with the potential to work collaboratively and collegially, to recognize the value of undervalued people, and to fight back against the ways in which racism, sexism, homophobia, and other oppressive practices harm everyone by treating difference as an excuse for domination.