Feminism… Thoughts! 0.6

In 1969, Frances M. Beal published “Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female,” which was a pamphlet describing the experiences of African-American women during the feminist movement. Her article particularly cited the exploitation of black women in society, as well as the diverse struggles between white and “non-white” feminists.

Still in 1969, that exact year, Betty Friedan stepped down as president of the organization the National Organization for Women (NOW). In spite of the fact that the organization was racially inclusive, the interests of black women were frequently sidelined. For example, Friedan and some of the African American members clashed over Friedan’s use of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to advocate for more jobs for middle-class white women, when many African American men and women faced racially motivated job bigotry and lived below the poverty line. By the time Friedan stepped down in 1969, African American women had already started forming their own feminist organizations.

During the 1970s, African-American women were assembling as separate feminist institutions starting with the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) in 1973. The Combahee River Collective was formed in 1974 for an identical purpose, but they correspondingly concentrated on problems of sexuality that were usually neglected.

Their declaration states, “we are committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression…” and the way those systems of oppression intersect.

As these women sought after their collaborative goals, revolutionary scholar and activist Angela Davis began publishing articles and books that would contribute to the foundation of the “Black Feminist” movement. She published an article on the harmful stereotypes of black women in society in 1972 and then followed that with her book entitled, “Women, Race & Class” in 1981. The Combahee River Collective and “Women, Race & Class” both provided a solid foundation for future feminists to study various forms of oppression.

In 1981, bell hooks published “Ain’t I A Woman? Black Women and Feminism.” Her book provides an analysis of the current movement and a critique of mainstream feminism for excluding the concerns of black women in their general fight for equality. In it, she provides an inclusive method for activism through black feminism. She states, “although the focus is on the black female, our struggle for liberation has significance only if it takes place within a feminist movement that has as its fundamental goal the liberation of all people.”

After her pioneering work, many feminist writings did the same and addressed the concerns and activism of coloured women. One of these books was “This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color” edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa in 1981. This work included several writings from black, Native American, Asian American, and Latina women feminists that advocated for their rights in the white-dominated feminist movement.