About Joey Pierre, ACSW
Independent Race & Class Researcher, Scholar, & Writer
I am a 36-year-old cis-man, white, culturally Mexican-American, gay, able-bodied, and hold upper-class privilege. I was born on the ancestral lands of the Tongva, Acjachemen, and Kizh Nations, also known as Orange, California. I graduated from Cal State University of Northridge (CSUN) with a degree in Communication Studies, emphasizing rhetoric analysis. I also have a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California (USC) and am an Associate Clinical Social Worker specializing in adult mental health.
My heritage and its stigmas have played an enormous role in my development; however, whiteness has also played a pernicious role in shaping my identity.
My scholarly work focuses on race and class in the U.S. by examining aspects of white supremacy, including racism, capitalism, whiteness, and patriarchy. I approach the issue of white supremacy with a Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) lens and reinforce it with Black Feminist Theory. I trace historical choices from the past into the present. I illuminate how we subconsciously internalize our institutions' messages. And I examine how racial bias is expressed casually in everyday conversation and articulate its functionality.
Racism is a complex web that influences us from the top down. We must start from within and take an in-depth, uncomfortable look at ourselves to tackle it. Individual bias is a symptom of a much larger insidious issue that has real consequences for real people. Join me on this journey of deepening clarity by activating resistance through anti-racist education.
In Strength & Solidarity,
Joey Pierre
“White people are trapped in a history they don’t understand.”
— James Baldwin