Ronelle King: Feminist and Social Justice Activist speaks out against oppression and discrimination

While some have decried the Life In Leggings movement as “click bait” (incendiary content posted online with the intent of accruing as many views and “likes” as possible), Ronelle believes that the path to a more inclusive society is to first break down stigmas that make topics such as GBV and sexual assault “taboo”. Her personal activism has also included work with B-GLAD (Barbados Gays, Lesbians, and All-Sexuals Against Discrimination) and the Face Depression Campaign where she used her experiences of depression to spread awareness about mental illnesses.

“I would say I’m extremely passionate about social activism and advocacy; in fact, I identify as a feminist and social justice activist,” she says proudly of the work she is focused on. While the path of any activist is not easily trodden, Ronelle says it would be an impossible task for her to sit at the wayside quietly while persons in our societies are oppressed “simply because they are different.” She is committed to using the privileges afforded to her to advocate for marginalised groups in hopes of bringing access to a more level and equal playing field for all. “That being said, neither will I remain silent on the injustices that I face as a woman.”

The young activist voices that humans and social issues are complex in nature, and while she can speak to the challenges and prejudice she faces as a Black woman, she does not have lived experiences to speak for other social blocs such as the transgender community or disabled persons. For her, inclusive and intersectional movements (movements that acknowledge how the oppressions of different groups are interlinked and upheld by the same systems on institutional, cultural, and governmental levels) require various voices and experiences to be heard. “We also need to support them [varying social groups] in the ways that they want to be supported, not in the way that we think that they should be supported, based on our limited experience as outsiders looking in,” she elaborates – which has been a pivotal point of the Life In Leggings movement: the experiences that many women have shared on social media can never be had by most men, and never can the threat of GBV be such a constant force in male lives. “This is important because all oppression is linked; at the base of it all is the misguided belief that some people are less human or less deserving of human rights based on things like gender, skin colour, sexual orientation or physical ability,” Ronelle echoes the need for intersectional movements toward social change. “You can’t fight for the rights of one group … but ignore or continue to be prejudiced against another that you don’t identify with because doing so will undermine your cause.”

Ronelle also speaks of the disparity between genders when it comes to abuse and sexual violence. While all genders are affected as such, the challenges victims face in reporting and seeking justice for such crimes committed against them are very different based on gender. “For example,” she begins, “women are often victim-blamed after being raped. What they were wearing or their sexual history is brought up. All of these problematic beliefs need to be challenged and destroyed. Lumping them [the separate experiences of men and women] together runs the risk of losing some of the necessary nuance in exploring the surrounding issues and that would be a disservice to everyone.”

She sees educational reform as a viable way of bringing about cultural change but is adamant that such education must involve honest discussions about the role and influence of gender when it comes to sexual violence. Also part of this reform, she says, must be an examination of how we got to this point and how we move forward to dismantle the patriarchal systems that affects all genders.

“Our colonial history definitely plays a role,” she preaches of the lasting and continuing trauma our histories of slavery wreak on our modern Caribbean societies. She gives an example of a well-known slave named Sarah Baartman who was once paraded around by her slave owners to show off her large backside and was subject to physical abuse. “To this day, women on the street are still subject to harassment, violence, ogling and ridicule for having a big butt,” Ronelle makes the comparison, adding that the advances and cat calls from strange men on the street today mirror histories of slaves on selling blocks at auctions. Breaking this mental programming will take many years – possibly as many as have passed since “abolition” – but Ronelle thinks the first step is open and honest discussions about the horrors faced during the Atlantic Slave Trade and how such trauma has been passed down generationally.

She also addresses the myth the Life In Leggings movement is “only for women”: “No one is unaffected. If you look around carefully, you will see the ways in which the message that women are ‘lesser than’ is upheld. A simple and common example of this is soca music: can any of us say that we have never listened to or partied to a song that talks about women in a derogatory light?” In these instances, we are all complicit in upholding and perpetuating such beliefs and she believes it is up to all men and women to examine the world critically and understand how we partake every day in cultures that produce GBV. She encourages persons interested in fighting against GBV to “keep listening, reading, and researching – and most of all, to keep introspecting and reflecting on what personal changes you can make to unlearn ingrained problematic beliefs and behaviours.”

As for the movement she has helped create and shape – Life In Leggings – Ronelle expresses that words cannot fully describe how moved she has been in the past weeks. “I’ve always looked up to women who’ve started or played important roles in history and I’m elated to be able to say that I spearheaded as well as stood alongside hundreds of Caribbean women to demand equality not only for ourselves but for the generations of women after us.”

Her vision for the future of the movement is to transcend spaces – from an online presence to a physical force, as well as join forces as a region of women to dismantle patriarchal systems. Among the movement’s many missions, she hopes to be a space for conversation around gender relations in her country, Barbados, and by extension the Caribbean. “We’re working feverishly to build from the momentum of the social media campaign, which includes collaborating with other organisations in order to work towards educational and systemic changes within our community.”

She is of the view that each of us – all genders, ages, and backgrounds – has the power to inspire others and create change. Her advice to activists is simple but poignant: “If you’re passionate about something, keep talking about it. There is power in unity, so let’s continue to support each other in challenging the problems in our society.”