What is Black Feminism?

Black feminism is a school of thought which argues that sexism, class oppression, gender identity and racism are bound together. The way these relate to each other is a concept called intersectionality. The term intersectionality theory was first coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989. In her work, Crenshaw discussed Black feminism, which argues that the experience of being a black woman cannot be understood in terms of being black, and of being a woman; it’s considered independently studied outside of both classifications, but must include the interactions, which frequently reinforce each other.

Feminism at its core is a movement to abolish the inequalities women face. Whereas Black feminism became popular in the 1960s, in response to the sexism of the Civil Rights Movement and racism of the feminist movement.

From the 1970s to 1980s, black feminists formed various groups that addressed the role of black women in Black Nationalism, the gay liberation, and second-wave feminism. And in the 1990s, the Anita Hill controversy placed black feminism in a mainstream light. Black feminist theories reached a wider audience in the 2010s, as a result of social media advocacy. Proponents of black feminism argue that black women are positioned within structures of power in fundamentally different ways from white women. The distinction of black feminism has birthed the derisive tag "white feminist" vs “black feminist” as a tool used to criticize feminists who do not acknowledge issues of intersectionality.

Critics of black feminism argue that racial divisions weaken the strength of the overall feminist movement. Among the theories that evolved out of the black feminist movement are Alice Walker's womanism, and historical revisionism with an increased focus on black women.

Angela Davis, Bell Hooks, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, and Patricia Hill Collins have emerged as leading academics on black feminism, whereas black celebrities, notably Beyoncé, have encouraged mainstream discussion of black feminism.

Womanism vs. Feminism

Many Black women are choosing to identify themselves as “Womanist” or supporting Womanisim over the terms Feminist and Feminism. This is a more “kinder, gentler” way of saying they stand for the rights and well-being of women and young girls without being offensive to some within the Black Community.

A Womanist or Womanism is a social theory deeply rooted in the racial and gender oppression of black women. The term womanism was first coined by author Alice Walker in her 1979 short story "Coming Apart". Where Walker describes the protagonist of the story as a womanist. Although Walker is credited for the term, there are other contributors to the womanism movement. These contributors developed their own womanist theories independently of Walker's womanism.

There are varying interpretations on what the term womanist means and efforts to provide a concise and all encompassing definition have only been marginally successful. The ambiguity within the theory allows for its continuous expansion of its basic tenets. At its core, womanism is a social change perspective based upon the everyday problems and experiences of black women and other women of minority demographics, but more broadly seeks methods to eradicate inequalities not just for black women, but for all people. The self-authored spirit of activism, spirituality, and the women's relationship with herself, other women, and her surroundings comprise an essential part of the ideology.

The title of the groundbreaking anthology, All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men, But some of us are Brave, published in 1982 - edited by Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith, perfectly illustrates the sentiments behind the need for the development of the Black Feminist Movement. In which Academics, second-wave, and third-wave feminists would likely agree that the Black Feminist movement grew out of, and more importantly, in response to, the Black Liberation Movement (itself an out-growth of the Civil Rights Movement), and the Women's Movement taking place in the United States and the West.

To be frankly honest, Black women always have been (and always will be by most) institutionally marginalized and openly discriminated against when it comes to either movements; what was never truthfully designed for us as a people anyway.

In both yester-years and present day ”black” or the elements of the “Black struggle” is almost always equated to black men. And “woman” is almost always equated to white women. Where as women of color is almost always excluded from either definition of oppression and/or liberation. As a result black women are often seen as an invisible double minority group by social-psychological definition; who’s existence and needs were (and always have been) ignored.

After borrowing the office of the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women; frustrations over this dismissal of the needs of Black women is what led to the formation of the National Black Feminist Organization in New York in 1973. Thus, Black Feminism is merely an effort, coping mechanism, and tool to be utilized by Black women who are racially oppressed within the Women's Movement, and sexually oppressed within the Black Liberation Movement, as well as within the patriarchal system of the Black community, which simply mimics the sexist ideas of the larger society. This group worked to address the unique issues affecting black women in America. Founding members included Michele Wallace, Faith Ringgold, Doris Wright and Margaret Sloan-Hunter.

One of two earliest organizations formed in the Black feminist movement, the National Black Feminist Organization clearly reflected the goals put forth in the Combahee River Collective Statement, which was being developed at around the same time by some of the same women. The Combahee River Collective was a Black feminist lesbian organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980. The Collective was instrumental in highlighting that the White feminist movement was not addressing their particular needs.

Side Note: Many Black men confuse all Black feminists with the Combahee River Collective Statement, thinking that all Black women that identify themselves as feminist are lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender. And that’s not the actually truth. Even though some Black feminist are in same sex partnerships, there are Black feminist who’re married to men, mothers, heterosexual and even male.

The Combahee River Collective Statement is perhaps the best known - key document in the history of contemporary Black feminism and the development of the concepts of identity as used among political organizers and social theorists.

In the second half of the 20th century, black feminism as a political and social movement grew out of black women's feelings of discontent with both the civil rights movement and the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

The following year, in 1970, the Third World Women's Alliance published the Black Women’s Manifesto, which argued for a specificity of oppression against Black women. Co-signed by Gayle Linch, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Maxine Williams, Frances M Beale and Linda La Rue, the manifesto, opposing both racism and capitalism, stated that:

The black woman is demanding a new set of female definitions and a recognition of herself of a citizen, companion and confidant, not a matriarchal villain or a step stool baby-maker. Role integration advocates the complementary recognition of man and woman, not the competitive recognition of same

The Third World Women's Alliance (TWWA) was a revolutionary organization of women of color founded in New York City in the summer of 1970 and active from 1970 to 1977. This mission statement: ending racism, imperialism, and sexism. The TWWA was one of the earliest groups advocating an intersectional approach to women's oppression. The Third World Women’s Alliance has its origins in women's activism in Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In December 1968, Black women in SNCC formed a Black women's liberation committee, but early in 1970, the women decided to expand their membership beyond SNCC and renamed their group the Black Women's Alliance. In the Summer of 1970, the Black Women's Alliance joined with revolutionary Puerto Rican women activists to create the Third World Women’s Alliance. A second chapter in Oakland/San Francisco formed in 1971.

The main focus of the Third World Women's Alliance was to unite women of color in struggle against racism, imperialism, and sexism, as the banner of their newspaper Triple Jeopardy (1971-1975) proclaimed. The Third World Women's Alliance stressed the ideological connections between capitalist exploitation, global imperialism, and oppression of women of color. The Alliance had many strategies to attack the threats of racism, imperialism, and sexism. A statement in the first issue of Triple Jeopardy proclaimed "the struggle against racism and imperialism must be waged simultaneously with the struggle for women's liberation" by "a strong independent socialist women's group.

TWWA widened the possibility of women’s involvement through a triple jeopardy perspective. This idea motions an open-minded perspective on the feminists who connected domestic issues in communities of color to justice and anti-imperial movements in the Third World. Adding to the critical reproductive theory. Furthermore, it demonstrates how Black women's protests against sexism in the civil rights movements formed a Black feminist mutual identity.

Many understood the TWWA to be a US Women of Color political formation. Because it was a radical based movement, they focused on the experiences, concerns, and perspectives of black, Asian, Puerto Rican and Hispanic women who were critical of the masculine beliefs interfering with the justice movements occurring within their community. It developed with the goal of redefining the "role of the black woman in the revolutionary struggle". The group brought the differences of culture, race, and ethnicity into the fight against capitalist exploitation in communities of color, stereotypes, and drug and alcohol abuse. They waged with segments of Black Power and women's liberation movements.