Book Review on Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment Black Feminist Thought is a classic book written by Patricia Hill Collins, in which she reflects on the knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment of African-American women. There are mainly two editions in total, the first edition being published in 1990, and the latter presented in 2000. Although Collins emphasizes black feminist thought’s purpose, namely black women’s empowerment and improving conditions of social justice in both editions, she achieved much more in the second edition. After the first publication of the book, presenting her original arguments for the existence of a black women’s standpoint, her analysis on the …show more content…
It would not serve Collins’ purpose if the production of theory and interpretation of knowledge are reserved for educated elites. Instead, Collins presents those Black women’s ideas “in a way that made them not less powerful or rigorous but accessible” and so that “the vast majority of African-American women could read and understand.”(Collins 2000, p.vii) Collins has put forward several arguments and carried out in-depth analysis to support them. First of all, she argues for the importance that Black women intellectuals play in the field of Black feminist thought as “the primary responsibility for defining one’s own reality lies with the people who live that reality, who actually have those experiences.” (Collins 2000, p.35). In her book, Collins has repeatedly include ideas from Black feminist thinkers (e.g. Audre Lorde, Bell Hooks, Angela Davis) and novelists (e.g. Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker). Collins also argues that there is a “dialectical relationship linking African-American women’s oppression and activism” (Collins 2000, p.22). In other words, if intersecting oppressions do exist, Black feminist thought and similar oppositional actions and knowledges would be necessary and vice …show more content…
Most importantly, she broadened analysis beyond race, class, and gender and include sexuality and nation as form of oppression in the second edition. Utilising the term "Intersectionality” first coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw (Crenshaw, 1989), Collins brings focus to the intersecting of several different forms of oppression, and thus, reconceptualising the idea of social relations of domination and resistance. Collins’ new definition to the term “intersectionality” brings her to raise Maria Stewart’s view about how “it was not enough to just point out the source of Black women's oppression.” (Collins 2000, p.1). She argues that it is more important for Black women to forge self-definitions of self-reliance and independence to help
In the article The Politics of Black Women’s Studies by Akasha Hull and Barbara Smith, Hull and Smith studiously literate the politics and controversy around the fundamentals of black women’s studies in the past and modern day. Furthermore, the ideology of the article falls under the premise that racism and prejudice are still current and prominent factors that affect the development of black women’s studies in the way it is taught in universities, and the role it takes upon the lives of black women. To begin, it is evident that the premise of the article is solely based on the pros and cons that derive from black women attempting to exist in a white man’s world by making a name for themselves in society. Hull and Smith state that “the necessity
Explain Nathan Huggins understanding of the historical development of Black Studies. Nathan Huggins describes the changes over several decades for the historical development of Black Studies. During these eras, there were three major objectives for Black Studies from scholars, administrators, and students alike, felt the need to address “the political need for turf and place, the psychological need for identity, and the academic need for recognition”. In the fifties, Afro-American Studies was called “Negro history” (p. 325) and was considered “a subfield of American history” (p. 325) because there was a lack of recognition for the scholars in the field.
A significant component of Cooper’s work explores the intersection of being Black and a woman in a post-slavery American society.
An intersectional examination of the challenges of African Americans reveals that there are various factors that aide in the oppression of this group. Race, gender, and sexuality are all interlocking aspects to the challenges face by Black men and women. Three scholarly pieces that examine these interconnected issues and the affect that they have are “The Combahee River Collective Statement”, Black Sexual Politics by Patricia Hill Collins, and “Hip-Hop Feminist” by Joan Morgan. Each of these text argue for an understanding of Black people, and specifically Black women, in a manner that does not put race before gender and sexuality. While “The Combahee River Collective Statement” and Black Sexual Politics both seek to examine gender and sexuality
Power is something that everyone seeks to find throughout there life. Everyone wants to feel that they made their mark on this earth the way they wanted to. Being able to discover oneself throughout the world that is filled with negativity and people fighting against your specific purpose is never easy. This is the hardest for black women and their community as a whole. Throughout this book Jill shows us the daily struggles black women face and the things she personally has to deal with daily.
In the white man’s world, the strongest antagonist is an educated black woman, conscious of her value and power in society. Angela Davis is one of these black women. She was educated not only formally through schooling, but through experiences as an oppressed member of society. Davis illustrates how necessary knowledge of self, a sense of community, drive, and organizing are in the Freedom Liberation Movement. Angela Davis’s purpose for writing her autobiography was to preserve and validate the struggles, efforts, and intentions of the many men and women, including herself, educating future generations on the past, in hopes that they will continue the fight towards freedom that is not yet won.
In her article, Race and Women’s Identity Development: Distinguishing Between Feminism and Womanism Among Black and White Women, Boisnier focuses on the centralized idea of “comparing existing models of feminist identity development as they relate to women from different ethnic or racial groups,” to support her belief that Black women identify more with womanism and Black feminism (Boisnier, 211). Boisnier analyzes two widely known feminism models to validate her belief, the Downing and Roush feminist model and the Helms womanist model, in which she states that both models “share a basic pattern of evolution in women’s thinking about themselves,” (Boisnier, 212) However, the Helms womanist model suggests that Black women feel separated from
The anti-lynching writings therefore enclosed a comprehensive view of the racialized sexual politics of the south; a justification of the black men as true men, a critique of white would-be protectors as just corrupt and exposure of white women as active participants to white supremacy in sexual politics together with re-centering of the black women’s experiences in the incidences of rape, sexualized racism and lynching. She documented unbiased suffering of attacks of lynching and rape on black women and girls. By so doing, she staged a claim of outraged black womanhood that was first articulated by the opponents of slavery though becoming unthinkable under the white supremacists ideology by time the nineteenth century came to an end. She also describes the black women rapes as a piece of black men
African American women have been among the many races in America that were forced to do slavery and struggles for their rights for many years; although they have made much progress they do still have people who mistreat them simply for being another race. Although the civil rights movement began in 1954, the first recorded slave revolt was back in 1663 proving that all African Americans have been working for centuries in order to get the same rights as white people have. Luckily, all their hard work caused all slaves to be freed in 1865 then the The Civil Rights Act of 1964 which ended segregation of people based on their ethnic background. But, unfortunately, African American women still do deal with major issue simply based on their race. With stress of racism being a possible cause for a high mortality rate in African American mothers, slurs still be frequently thrown around due to it being “just a word”, and we still even have neo-nazis/white supremacists marching around and claiming to be above all non-white people.
It is crucial for feminism, specifically white feminists, to acknowledge the shortcomings of the movement. Kendall argues that white women must recognize their privilege and how it can be used to perpetuate oppression. She notes that white women are not just “passive beneficiaries” of racist oppression. Instead, they have actively participated in white supremacy and racism. Throughout history, the myth of white women lacking the power to oppress others has been perpetuated.
Chisholm utilizes cause and effect to describe the unfair perspectives others have on African American women in society. When Chisholm states “ Since time immemorial the black man’s emasculation resulted in the need of the black woman to assert herself in order to maintain some semblance of a family unit.” As a result of this historical circumstance, the “black woman has developed perseverance.” Chisholm creates the generalization that black women are known for taking care of their families, while the men fight the political and
Reflection Paper #5 In the sixth chapter of his book, Delores Williams talks about the three areas in which womanist theology can dialogue with black liberation theology, namely theological method, certain areas of Christian doctrine, and ethics. What Williams really does throughout the chapter is that she first explains the point of view of some black liberation theologians, such as James Cone, James Deotis Roberts and Cecil Cone, regarding certain subjects; then she uses a womanist approach to contrast such views.
6700 Engwr 300 Essay 3 Dr. Jordan WC: Reframing Feminism for Black Women Beautiful gardens and handmade colorful quilts are not often the symbols of rebellion however, in Alice Walker’s In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens these are the pictures of defiance. One overarching theme in Walker’s essay is the idea of a legacy for women and the ability to create art; a theme which is paralleled in the book A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, which Walker quotes within her essay. Alice Walker quotes and adapts Virginia Woolf’s writing to reframe it for black women.
Kareen Harboyan English 1C Professor Supekar March 15, 2018 Word Count: Crenshaw’s Mapping the Margins: The Marginalization of Women of Color Analyzed Through Generalization and A Feminist Lens Crenshaw's Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color expands on the multifaceted struggles of women of color and the generalizations ingrained in society that limit women of color and keep them in a box. In this text, Crenshaw builds on the concept of intersectionality which proposes that social categorizations such as gender and race are intertwined and have great influence on one another.
In a compelling, deeply passionate, and open novel by Danielle McGuire, she sheds light on black women involvement and how pivotal their stories are on raising awareness on sexual violence throughout history in her book titled “At the dark end of the street: black women, rape, and resistance- a new history of the civil rights movement from Rosa Parks to the rise of black power.” Not only does this book focuses on the truth about Black women’s suffrages, but it also sheds light on Rosa Parks huge contribution to this matter years before the infamous bus protest. Lastly, the book showcases how white men used violence on black women to prolong white supremacy to stay