Key Sentence:
- It seems that more and more cases of performative and racist activism are harming marginalized groups every day.
Both companies and individuals are Michelle Minjung missing out. Also more needs to be done to understand better how to handle spaces where the most stressed people feel safe. Resurrection is an upcoming book that explores this issue in more detail. Michelle Midjung Kim sat down with Forbes to explain her intention to write the book, discuss separation from the grinding culture, and share how she finds healing in her community.
Janice Gassam Assure: Can you tell some Forbes readers that you may not know much about yourself. What triggered your recent decision to include your middle name, Jung? You explained this on LinkedIn, but I want you to take a closer look.
Michelle Midjung Kim: From my travel perspective, I like to Michelle Minjung remember all the identities we have. I’ve always led with it because I really couldn’t believe that I would be who I am today, a person experiencing the world I was in without the identity I have.
And for me, this is me, a Korean-American, an immigrant who came to this country when I was 13 years old. So it’s up to me to be strange, a strange woman, a strange woman of color. Also, so much of my identity was shaped and politicized when I was a youth activist. So I started my political career in high school as a unique youth organizer.
And that was the beginning of my work on social justice.
So much of my work is about getting back to the basics of social justice principles when we talk about making changes in the system and doing what many call diversity and inclusion and how it’s just a continuation of social justice work that’s somehow been co-opted and disinfected. And chalked. And now we need to take a deep breath, some of the more fundamental principles and historical context that have been stripped away for so long.
All these experiences have shaped me. And then, I did a 180 in terms of my work when I went to Corporate America. And I remember being very frustrated and confused by the cognitive dissonance. I felt when people started talking to me about D&I.
And of course, I joined the LGBT ERG because I thought it was like a student organization that I ran in school, and then I realized that we only had happy hours and celebrated the month of pride in the same way. We’re not talking about how queer and transgender people are killed on the street. We’re not talking about the pay gap or institutionalized homophobia and transphobia that I think D&I will address.