BIPOC Intersectionality

Part of Neurodivergence Series

Three BIPOC people are shown: one with dark hair wearing black glasses and a green blouse; one with bleached dreadlocks tied up in a black bandana wearing purple glasses and a black shirt; and one with short curly hair and a septum piercing wearing metal framed glasses and a white blouse with black overshirt. The text reads BIPOC Intersectionality Rev. Marisol Caballero, Ayanna Kafi, Mackenzie MacDade

The seventh in our Skill Up series was a BIPOC panel with Rev. Marisol Caballero, Ayanna Kafi, and Mackenzie MacDade in June 2023. The webinar explored the intersectionality of being BIPOC and neurodivergent. Both of these identities require navigating systems that were not meant for them. We talked about how our UU communities can be spaces where people can engage the fullness of themselves.

Rev. Marisol Caballero (she/her), Faith Innovation Specialist in the UUA’s Faith Development Office, is a native Texan who lives and works in Austin. She enjoys social justice activism, cooking, crocheting, sewing, and traveling with her wife, son, and pup, Diego.

Ayanna Kafi (they/them) is a neurodivergent, nonbinary, Black woman living on Creek land, commonly known as Stone Mountain, a beautiful city within the collective of cities known by locals as Atlanta. They cohabitate with their partner, child, granddog, and often one or more other relations. They believe that their ministry springs from their embodiment, home, and community so they strive to fill their life with laughter, music, movement, intentional rest, and the discipline of ever expanding joy. They are a lifelong UU and serve as the UUA’s Mosaic Project Manager out of the LGBTQ and Multicultural Ministries office.

Mackenzie MacDade (she/her) is a 33 year old, queer woman of color, teaching artist, feminist, part time poet and general rabble rouser. She got her start in feminism from a book of feminist nursery rhymes, and her start in pop culture analysis from 9 years of homeschooling (translation: 9 years of TV and movie watching). A firm believer in queering the collective consciousness, she strives to inspire people to redesign their idea of normal and step out their comfort zone. She takes inspiration from Gertrude Stein, Buffy, Angela Davis, Faith and bell hooks. Someone once described her as “The love child of Angela Davis and Ru-Paul” and she thinks that just about sums it up.

Please find the talk and Q&A session recording available for purchase on the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA) storefront. Your purchase will directly support the continuation of this series.