Sharon Doetsch-Kidder

This essay examines antiracist feminist writing and activist oral histories, finding in these scholars' and organizers' attention to the role of spirit in their work an approach it names “loving criticism.” Loving criticism seeks knowledge that does something besides expose the truth of oppression. It seeks to amplify kindness, creativity, love, and joy wherever it can find it, so that the critic, activist, and the world can draw on these resources. Love leads us to bring old knowledges into our work and to find common ground with those whom we protest and criticize. Through loving criticism, we look for and encourage the best in others and ourselves, trusting that nourishing our creative parts is intrinsically good. Love helps us find alternatives to oppositional thinking and violence so that we can create deep, lasting change.

Ruby Corado is a Latina trans activist and national spokesperson on issues of violence against transgender people. She arrived in the DC area at the age of 16, a refugee from political violence in El Salvador. She has coordinated local support groups for drag queens and trans women as well as the national Latina Transgender Leadership Summit and advocated with the Metropolitan Police Department and other Washington, DC, agencies for better treatment of trans people. In 2003, she gained national attention speaking out against violence after the murder of her friend, Bella Evangelista. With all of her public speaking and organizing, however, the activism that means the most to Ruby is the personal support she provides to those who are “really marginalized,” even within the trans community, those who are homeless, sex workers, addicts, or HIV positive, who she calls her “daughters.” I interviewed Ruby in Washington, DC, in three sessions, on October 6, 18, and 25, 2004, as part of a larger project collecting oral histories of activists who work at the intersections of race, class, sexuality, disability, and nation.