Person Centered Language

Person-centered language involves actively choosing language mindfully to center a person's humanity by using the correct adjectives and pronouns to describe a person, and not render them to a condition or single aspect of their identity.

Revolutionary (Angela Davis), Wadsworth Jarrell

she proudly called herself an Afro-American, rejecting the term colored because she believed it stood for nothing. To her mind, colored was the negation of her humanity and an injury that had been inflicted by centuries of slavery; now, it was being foisted upon her as an identity to exact even more damage

-Saidiya Hartman,
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments

"Changing the word 'slave' from a noun to an adjective seems like a subtle nod to political correctness, but to consider it just that is both reductive and dismissive. For Hannah-Jones and other Black writers such as myself, this recalibration of letters is an act of freedom, authenticity, and emotional preservation. See, “small” changes to language — even to the simple concept of capitalization — can provoke new discussions about oppression and then extract humanity from these discussions. This humanity, when reclaimed by Black people, is something like a strand of freedom, wispy but substantial in tethering us to this reality that 'slaves' were actually people experiencing enslavement rather than objects or property."

- George M. Johnson,
Yes, 'Black' is capitalized when we're talking about race

"'Latinx' is not for everyone. Transgender and gender-nonconforming Latin Americans living in the U.S. have used the 'X' as a reminder that their bodies are still experiencing a colonization invested in disciplining them to fit a standard gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, and a particular sexual performance. For this reason, it is important for us to not normalize 'Latinx,' but to engage in critical reflection of how violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Asexual + (LGBTQIA+) Latin Americans has been accepted by Latin American people to the point that LGBTQIA+ Latinxs have had to create a linguistic intervention in the hopes that they can live a livable life."

- Alan Pelaez Lopez,
The X in Latinx is a Wound Not a Trend

"The terms 'women of color' and 'people of color' are meant to be inclusive. But, from my perspective, they only help to leave black people behind — specifically black women.While every minority group faces its own challenges in America, a “one size fits all” mentality toward diversity erases the specific needs of the most vulnerable communities."

- Nadra Widatalla,
The term 'people of color' erases Black people. Let's retire it