Black feminism
"[1] According to Black feminism, race, gender, and class discrimination are all aspects of the same system of hierarchy, which bell hooks calls the "imperialist white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy."
[3] These lens of thinking indicate that each identity—being Black and being female—should be considered both independently and for their interaction effect, in which intersecting identities deepen, reinforce one another, and potentially lead to aggravated forms of inequality.
[6] Cooper's contemporary writer and activist, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, proposed "some of the most important questions of race, gender, and the work of Reconstruction in the nineteenth century".
Wells, a trailblazing journalist and activist, became famous for seeking to find the truth about the lynching of Black men, a subject that many White feminists avoided.
[15] Hurston's substantial number of published works include the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) featuring a strong female protagonist in Janie Crawford.
[16] Although the decades between the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1920) and the 1960s are not included among the "wave" periods of feminism, this was a particularly important moment in the development of Black feminist activism.
[19] Black feminist activists focused on other similar cases, such as the 1949 arrest of and then death sentence issued to Rosa Lee Ingram, a victim of sexual violence.
[20] Despite often initiating protests, organizing and fundraising events, communicating to the community, and formulating strategies, women in positions of leadership are often overlooked by historians covering the civil rights movement, which began in earnest in the 1950s.
Baker disapproved of what she saw as sexism within both the NAACP and the SCLC and wanted to start her own organization with an egalitarian structure, allowing women to voice their needs.
According to the paper, women in SNCC did not have a chance to become the face of the organization, the top leaders, because they were assigned to clerical and housekeeping duties, whereas men were involved in decision-making.
[33] Despite these improvements, the SNCC's leadership positions were occupied by men during the entirety of its existence, which ended in turmoil within a few years of Carmichael's resignation from the body in 1967.
[13] Black lesbian feminism, as a political identity and movement, arose out of a compound set of grievances involving race, gender, social class, as well as sexual orientation.
[45] In addition to the multiple organizations that focused on Black lesbian feminism, there were many authors that contributed to this movement, such as Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, Pat Parker, June Jordan, Darlene Pagano, Kate Rushin, Doris Davenport, Cheryl Clarke, Margaret Sloan-Hunter, and a number of others.
Speakers included Sonia Sanchez, Audre Lorde, Verniece Miller, Reena Walker, Carol Bullard (Asha Bandele), and Vivian Morrison.
[52] The group, including Eve and Kathe Sandler, Nsia Bandele, and Indigo Washington, worked successfully to stop the parade from happening, bringing attention to the struggle of Black women against sexism and domestic violence.
Faith Evans spent more than 20 years in the music business fighting gender discrimination and harassment in an industry where men were the dominant content creators and producers.
Steele argues that digital spaces have created a "virtual commons" where Black women can gather to discuss and share experiences around issues of racial and gender justice.
For example, a 2015 Vogue Italia photo shoot involving model Gigi Hadid wearing an afro sparked backlash on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Black feminist scholars Kinitra Brooks, Kameelah Martin, and LaKisha Simmons co-wrote the Hypatia journal article on conjure feminism and co-edited the special issue.
The activist movement Black Lives Matter was initially formed by Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza, and Patrisse Kahn-Cullors as a hashtag to campaign against racism and police brutality against African Americans in the United States.
[74] In addition to traditional protests, black feminists have developed community-based workshops, offered mental health resources, and educated people to advocate for institutional change.
[77] Identity politics have often implemented race, class, and gender as isolated categories as a means of excluding those who aren't perceived as part of the dominant group.
[76] As a result, Black women sought solace in safe spaces that gave them the freedom to discuss issues of oppression and segregation that ultimately promoted unity as well as a means of achieving social justice.
[76] As the notion of color-blindness advocated for a desegregation in institutions, Black women faced new issues of identity politics and looked for a new safe space to express their concerns.
[79] Some Black novelists, such as Kwame Anthony Appiah, uphold the notion of color-blindness and dismiss identity politics as a proper means of achieving social justice.
[79] To him, identity politics is an exclusionary device implemented in Black culture and history, like hip hop and jazz, that limit outsider comprehension and access.
[79] However, writer Jeffery A. Tucker believes that identity politics serves as a foundation where such color-blindness can finally be achieved in the long run if implemented and understood within society.
Demita Frazier, co-founder of the Combahee River Collective, says these women from other movements found themselves "in conflict with the lack of a feminist analysis and in many cases were left feeling divided against [themselves].
"[83] The Combahee River Collective argued in 1974 that the liberation of Black women entails freedom for all people, since it would require the end of racism, sexism, and class oppression.
More Organizations Michelle Cliff believes that there is continuity "in the written work of many African American Women, ... you can draw a line from the slave narrative of Linda Brent to Elizabeth Keckley's life, to Their Eyes were Watching God (by Zora Neale Hurston) to Coming of Age in Mississippi (Anne Moody) to Sula (by Toni Morrison), to the Salt Eaters (by Toni Cade Bambara) to Praise Song for the Widow (by Paule Marshall)."
