Name: Raven Geiger
Pronouns: they/them or she/her
Major: Critical Social Thought (and Five College Certificate in Sustainability Studies)
Class Year: 2017
Hometown: Wrentham, MA (Randolph, MA before age 7)
What is the most valuable lesson (or lessons) that you have learned while at MHC?
The most valuable lessons I’ve learned at MHC are how to balance giving and taking in my friendships to create support networks for myself and others, seeing how interlinked all systems of oppression are, and how to continuously challenge myself to think and act more intersectionally—specifically to face the ways I have internalized systems of oppression and been blinded sometimes by my racial privilege. I have also learned how to keep challenging my blind spots and hold myself accountable to grow as an activist and person, and in general how to be an activist, friend, intellectual, creative, person-attempting-to-adult, and overall human being. That is not to say that I don’t have more to learn in all those areas—I certainly do, but I have learned so much here!
How do you think you’ve changed since your time as a first-year?
I have grown in confidence, experiences, and knowledge, and I have engaged in activism which I only dreamed of engaging in before college. I have traveled. I have gained experience in non-profits, community organizing, and more. I have challenged myself continuously to make my work more intersectional. Lastly, I have gained many wonderful friends, who have taught me about friendship and loving myself.
How and why did you choose your major?
I knew going into Mount Holyoke that I was concerned with environmental issues, feminism, and social justice issues (especially environmental issues)—but I was not as cognizant then about how much these things relate to each other. I thought I might want to major in environmental studies, largely due to my concern with the timeline of climate change (and my interest in the subject), but was not sure. Then in Gender Studies 101, I learned about intersectional feminism, and how colonialism, gender oppression, racism, and environmental injustice were linked. My concern with the interlinking of these systems of oppression with climate change—and belief in the power of working in solidarity on these related issues—led me down a similar, but slightly and crucially different path than environmental studies. The Critical Social Thought major at Mount Holyoke allows students to choose a question and apply critical social inquiry to it, working with the CST department and at least one other department (my main other department has been environmental studies). My question was, “What is environmental justice, how do capitalism, colonialism, racism, and other such systems of oppression relate to environmental injustice, and how do we come up with environmental justice solutions?” I also almost completed a gender studies minor, because intersectional feminism is very important to me, gender studies was interesting for me, and I wanted to explore what gender is!
What are your post-graduation plans?
I am still working on those, but I have had a few job options and am looking into more. Ultimately, I want to do environmental justice community organizing work, though I also might be interested in doing other intersectional social justice work focused on disability, mental illness, LGBTQIA issues, feminism, and more. Non-profits and other organizations are my sector, and being plugged into the social justice movement (most ideally environmental justice) while making a living is my goal. I hope to either stay in this area for a year or two, or go to Boston, or perhaps Washington D.C—but I am flexible on location.
What was your favorite class at Mount Holyoke or in the Five College Consortium?
My favorite class was Environmental Justice, at UMass Amherst, with Professor Leah Wing in the Legal Studies department. If you are even remotely interested in the environment, social justice, environmental justice, and/or legal studies, I highly recommend it!
What are your hobbies?
First and foremost, I love to read. I also enjoy hiking, walking in the woods, drawing, painting, and other creative things, listening to music, and always listening to other people’s perspectives.
Are you a member of any orgs? If so, which ones are you a part of?
Yes, I am a passionate core organizer for Mount Holyoke’s Climate Justice Coalition. I attend meetings, help craft our meeting agendas and larger strategies, bring people’s attention to environmental justice events going on in the valley, help plan events, collaborate with co-organizers and other orgs sometimes, and more. I also casually attend Unitarian Universalist society sometimes, and same with Multi-faith Lunch. I used to attend Philosophy Club, was a Green Living Council member my first year, did a semester of Chorale, and have dabbled with Think Outside the Bottle, whose work I admire.
Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
This is hard to say. I have many influences and inspirations, but no one main inspiration. Audre Lorde inspires me a lot, as does bell hooks, Andrea Smith, and Martin Luther King Jr. In life, my adviser, Professor Iyko Day, and other professors of mine such as Professor Lauret Savoy and Professor Leah Wing, inspire me. So do my co-organizers from working with Better Future Project last summer, especially my supervisor, Alyssa Lee. Creative inspirations include Vincent Van Gogh, Rumi, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keefe, and others. I could go on for a while.
What would you say is your “theme song?”
This is tricky, but I would say either “Imagine” by John Lennon (even though I dislike John Lennon as a person and do not condone his actions), or “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls!
What else would you like the readers to know about you?
I love the Harry Potter book series, visual art, trees, ocean, rainbow, fluffy dogs, and fluffy cats. Come talk to me if you want to know more!
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