Solidarity Across Difference and Non-Alignment

Sor Juana's writing demonstrates awareness of multiple suffering groups—women, indigenous peoples, the enslaved—yet her ability to actively ally with all was limited by her own position within colonial hierarchies. This historical limitation teaches an important lesson: intersectional solidarity is not about claiming unified experience with all oppressed groups, but about deliberately learning across difference and refusing complicity with oppression even where it benefits you. The concept rejects the fantasy that shared oppression creates automatic unity while affirming that people with different positions can and must create accountable relationships. In practice, this means identifying groups experiencing oppressions you don't face, listening to their analysis, supporting their self-determination, and resisting the urge to lead or speak for them.