The past few years have been an especially trying time for marginalised groups everywhere. We have seen the rights of women being attacked, the rights of LGBTQ+ people being recalled, and the rights of immigrants being restricted among many others.

The re-emergence of radical social conservatism and fascism in mainstream politics, largely starting with the election, and its build-up, of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States has been rather astonishing to witness — but in the same breath, unsurprising.

Unprecedented and largely unchecked “progress” towards a more liberal future will always be met with aggressive and obtuse opposition, often radicalising and unifying those who do not buy in this idea of what the future could, and arguably should, look like.

In response, those of us who believe in this more equitable and inclusive future must do the same. We must radically unify on all fronts to end oppression and injustice everywhere. It can no longer be acceptable for us to fight for the rights of some but not all. We can no longer be just women’s rights activists or LGBTQ+ rights activists, or even civil rights activists — we must all be human rights activists, unconditionally.

It is no secret that women’s rights movements have not been the most welcoming spaces and they have long been criticised for being very exclusive, allowing only certain voices to be heard.

For example, the feminist movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was notoriously exclusive of women of colour, especially Black women, only using them when convenient but often refusing to take up issues related to race. While this movement did largely see success in achieving its aims, one cannot help but point out the hypocrisy that lies at its core.

To any reasonable person, it must surely seem absurd that in this century you can still fight for the rights of one group while simultaneously ignoring, and in some cases championing against, the rights of another.

Well, I have news for you: history is repeating itself as it does, with modern feminists questioning the womanhood of transgender women, often excluding their voices and needs from mainstream feminist activism. (To be clear and to put at ease any doubt ... transwomen are women! And that is wholeheartedly not up for debate.)

I would like to note that this phenomenon is not exclusive to women’s rights movements; almost all human rights movements have a long and well-documented history of being incredibly exclusive spaces. The fight for racial equity often excludes the unique needs of Black women and LGBTQ+ persons, while the mainstream LGBTQ+ movement often excludes the needs of Black and transgender persons. But I wanted to highlight this pattern of exclusion to serve as foundation for my argument on the dire need for us to embrace solidarity.

Solidarity is both a key concept of activism and one of the greatest tools we can use to advocate for positive change. Solidarity is largely defined as a deep, holistic and consistent commitment to a collective based on an active respect for difference. In laymen’s terms, solidarity refers to the practice of supporting movements with whom you may have no personal connection, based on the shared understanding that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and “whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly”. (Martin Luther King Jr)

We as human beings, always expect solidarity, but struggle to give it. This is understandable, as we all think that the oppression and injustice that affects us directly is the most horrific. And thus, we tell ourselves that we cannot spare any resources to fight a war that’s not ours.

While I’m certainly not going to argue about whose oppression is worse, what I can say is that this is a significantly flawed philosophy for many reasons, but especially because it completely ignores intersectionality.

Intersectionality, coined by Kimberly Crenshaw, refers to the idea that we all have various overlapping and inseparable identities that affect the way in which we experience and understand the world around us. If we understand that there are members of our community that share identities with various other communities, ensuring that our activism fundamentally includes them means also fighting for the rights of all other said communities.

To put this into context, you cannot claim to fight for the rights of all women without also fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community or the Muslim community or the Black community, as there are women who possess one or more of these identities.

Hence, solidarity relies heavily on one’s understanding and appreciation of intersectionality.

Intersectionality and solidarity are not only essential to the success of any individual movement, but they are the only tools through which we can end all oppression and injustice.

My call to action here is specifically directed at the Government. You are hypocrites if you think it is OK to endorse, host and participate in events for International Woman’s Day while you go completely silent during Pride Weekend. This is a huge disservice to the entire LGBTQ+ community, but especially the women in the community because you are telling them that you value and celebrate only part of their being.

They deserve better. We all deserve better. We all deserve a government that sees and values our entire person.

With that in mind, I’ll end with this ...

• If your antiracism is not also feminist/womanist, anti-transphobic and anti-homophobic, we don’t want it

• If your feminism/womanism is not also antiracist, anti-transphobic and anti-homophobic, we don’t want it

• If your LGBTQ+ activism is not also feminist/womanist and antiracist, we don’t want it

We must remember that while using the master’s tools of individualism, oppression and separation may get you in the door, in the great words of Audre Lorde, they will never dismantle the master’s house.

I call on everyone to use this opportunity to “willingly and enthusiastically accept, adopt and espouse” solidarity. #EmbraceEquity fundamentally means understanding intersectionality and utilising solidarity.

• Taj Donville-Outerbridge is a Bermudian human rights activist and student studying at King’s College London. Most importantly, however, he is human. He can be reached via Instagram @_king.taj_ or via e-mail @ tdonvilleouterbridge@yahoo.com