Welcome to the August edition of the Amplify series: Shapers of a Movement. In this edition, we decided to do something different. We decided to talk to someone actively organizing to improve their community. What did we talk about? Well, the impact women of color and nonbinary folx have in organizing movements, and how they create spaces, fight to enact better policies for the community at large, and continue to fight and manage in an area that is often dominated by cisgender, white, and male people.

Our special guest this month is Sunyoung Strait (they/them), an organizer with thirteen years of experience in labor and community organizing. Sunyoung, or Sun, was inspired by the social workers who cared for them during their time in foster care. They received a master’s degree in Negotiations, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding, after which they continued on a path of movement work and organizing. They have worked with caregivers, have helped to elevate healthcare and service workers as Internal Healthcare Director of a labor union, and are now working as an Organizing Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA) to change policies that affect the API community.

Listen to the interview here:

Movement Musings:

• Check out the History of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Social Movements to learn more about many leaders in the LGBT community who have reshaped social movements and created safe movement spaces.

• Are you interested in visual media or infographic resources to help you understand movement work? Check out Lizartistry’s work on grassroots initiatives, movement building, and more.

• Want to make your feminism inclusive? Check out 5 things to know to make your feminism Trans inclusive.

• For the Youth! Who are the women and nonbinary youth organizing and making a difference today?

• Check out Girls for Gender Equality (GGE), a Black woman–focused reproductive justice organization, and its fight for abortion rights.

• A book we’d like to recommend is Community as Rebellion: A Syllabus for Surviving Academia as a Woman of Color by Lorgia García Peña. The book does a great job of explaining and expanding on institutional racism in academic settings and more.

Joycelyn lives in Cypress, Texas. She’s the daughter of immigrants and did not go to law school, but she received three degrees (BA, MA, MPH) and is happily freelancing and working in the nonprofit world. She enjoys writing about healthcare recruitment and even worked as a Healthcare Organizer. When she’s not writing, she’s transcribing, developing community toolkits, and researching womxn’s history. Which is why she’s excited about writing for AMPLIFY. On her off days, she spends her time on Twitter, reminding everyone to drink water and enabling others to watch more dramas. Follow her on Twitter: @jg_humanitarian