Internet-famous Facebook page Humans of New York documents the lives of random people in New York city, USA, using images and interviews. Drawing on this widely successful method of storytelling, photographer Jacquelyn Iyamah launched the Anti-Misogynoir Project, an Instagram-based initiative that makes the telling of stories and struggles a little more intersectional and a little more inclusive.
Speaking to AfroPunk, Iyamah said she created a platform to deal with the violence and prejudice experienced by black women exclusively. Her motivation is not unique. Civil rights activist and critical race theory scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw has throughout her career drawn attention to the need for intersectional thinking when confronting the problems faced by people of colour; namely, that black women’s problems are shaped by both racial biases and patriarchy.
“Without frames that allow us to see how social problems impact all the members of a targeted group, many will fall through the cracks of our movements, left to suffer in virtual isolation,” explained Crenshaw in a 2016 Ted Talk.
Iyamah’s initiative is a photographic and narrative project in framing, one that allows women of colour to represent themselves while challenging the status quo.
