Danielle Hicks
Professor Abigail Heiniger
GSW 5200
10 February 2014
Weekly Journal 6
Movements can be very powerful but the process of uniting groups of people with other
groups of people is not always an easy task. Donna Kate Rushin expresses the troubles of being
the “middle man” or “bridge” between multiple groups.
Rushin discusses in “The Bridge Poem” how she is the bridge between her family
members as well as between larger groups that are racially and or religiously segregated such as
White feminists, “Black church folks,” “ex-hippies” and Black separatists as well as a variety of
others (266). Rushin also states that she is “Sick of being the damn bridge for everybody” (266).
Through the process of being a “bridge,” Rushin acknowledges that these groups are
exclusionary and that she is “Sick of being the insurance against/The isolation of your selfimposed limitations” (266). Rushin expresses that these groups of people can be so exclusive and
unobtainable for others that she has difficulty in identifying herself with a group because this
identification can often lead to exclusion from another group. Rushin concludes by stating that
she must be the “bridge” to her true self and when she does this, she will be more powerful and
useful than when she was the “bridge” of others (267).
Upon reading Rushin’s “The Bridge Poem,” it was apparent that Rushin was very tired of
being the “bridge” between all of these groups and that in order for her to be happy, she must
accept her true self first. Similarly, I also believe that in order to be the most useful and powerful
person that I can be, I must accept my true self. In this process, I must also acknowledge which
groups I belong to as well as which groups I do not belong to. Slightly differing from Rushin’s
beliefs, I also believe that once a person finds their true self, they can then become the “bridge”
between others and encourage them to become “bridges” between other groups. As a result,
millions of people could ban together in a movement for equality on all grounds and not only
upon gender but also race and class as well as others. Such a movement as this would be
powerful simply in numbers but also through the collaboration of the ideas of millions of
different people from thousands of different backgrounds. Another article titled “The New
Mestiza Nation: A Multicultural Movement” by Gloria Anzaldúa acknowledges this very idea of
identity crisis and encourages the presence of “bridges.”
In Anzaldúa’s article, she discusses the troubles between identifying with multiple groups
and how “…maintaining ties with her ethnic community is sometimes at odds with developing
her intellectual identities…” (279). Anzaldúa also acknowledges that “identity is a changing
cluster of components and a shape-shifting activity” (281) but she also acknowledges that she
knows her true self and that by presenting her different faces she is not abandoning who she is
but that “all of me is there” (281). Therefore, Rushin, Anzaldúa, and I can all agree that knowing
one’s true self is essential for being happy as well as essential for being useful in movements.
However, as Rushin states that she is tired of being the “bridge” between groups and refuses to
be the “bridge” any longer, Anzaldúa and I encourage such “bridges.”
As I have stated previously, the ability to connect multiple different groups of people is a
powerful tool and the sheer amount of people supporting a movement would be powerful in
itself. I also believe, similar to Anzaldúa, that the collaboration of multiple different people from
different backgrounds is essential for a movement to truly become powerful and reach a lot of
people. Anzaldúa emphasizes this idea by stating “My creativity starts with solitude…but it also
needs close contact with others in my different communities where we discuss mutual cultural
and literary issues and support each other with our theories, experiences, and writing” (282).
Through these “…alliances among her own people and with other groups…” one can truly
achieve a movement’s goals (279).
Overall, it is important to know one’s true self but to also identify with groups. By
identifying with other groups and creating alliances, one has the ability to band millions of
people together to fight for similar goals, thus, a movement. Through these large numbers, a
movement’s power is increased when ideas are spread and enhanced as other individuals
collaborate their ideas into the original. Therefore, there is power in numbers and “bridges” are
necessary to create these numbers.
Works Cited
Anzaldúa, Gloria. "The New Mestiza Nation: A Multicultural Movement." Feminist Theory
Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. Ed. Carole R. McCann and Seung-kyung Kim.
3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. 277-84. Print.
Rushin, Donna K. "The Bridge Poem." Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives.
Ed. Carole R. McCann and Seung-kyung Kim. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. 26667. Print.