Black Feminist Movement: History, Roots, and Key Collectives

Introduction

The roots of Black feminism can be traced to 1864, when slavery had not yet been abolished and Sojourner Truth began selling pictures mounted on paper cards to fund her activism. After having been enslaved, being in a position to own and sell her image for profit was revolutionary. According to Peterson (2019), Truth often commented that she "used to be sold for other people's benefit, but now she sold herself for her own." Her activism was centered primarily on the abolishment of slavery and the securing of women's rights, since she was convinced that race and gender were inseparable. Truth's activism is an early representation of the Black feminist tradition. While the vision may differ among various feminist collectives over time, the foundational principles remain consistent: Black women's experiences of racism, classism, and sexism; their distinct view of the world — different from that of white men and women as well as Black men; and the need to address racism, sexism, and classism simultaneously.

Black women have been part of the Black Liberation Movement since slavery, participating in the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panthers, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Black Nationalism. However, while these movements sought the liberation of the Black race, they were not specific to the needs of women as members of the community and as U.S. citizens (Peterson, 2019). The women within these movements experienced sexism from their male colleagues and from members of other ethnicities, including women. While they participated in activism for the Black community, those efforts were mainly oriented toward restoring dignity for Black masculinity.

The emergence of feminist movements in the 1960s attracted participation by Black women but was met with racism and disapproval. Black women were invited only to conferences specific to Black women and women from third-world countries. Consequently, the development of a distinct Black feminist activism became necessary, since the issues addressed in mainstream feminist conferences did not resonate with their lived experiences (Taylor, 1998). This marginalization — both within and outside of Black liberation movements — created the need for Black feminism to advocate for the unique needs of Black women, including the right to work and earn a living, access to education, and independence in making decisions about fertility.

History of Black Feminism

The Black feminist movement has been a lifelong struggle advocating for the welfare and liberation of Black women. Black women have had a long and troubled relationship with the contemporary political system, which has been predominantly occupied by white men who, at a macro level, have shaped governance according to their own perceptions of what women need. This view is blind to the particular needs of Black women, subjecting them to a governance system that influences their lives in both overt and subtle ways (Taylor, 1998). Among the leading figures in the Black feminist movement are Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Harriet Tubman, Frances E. W. Harper, and Mary Church Terrell — all of whom held that their sexual and racial identities were factors contributing to their disenfranchisement.

The Black feminist movement emerged during the second wave of the American women's movement in the late 1960s. Women from third-world countries, American women, and working-class women all participated in the feminist movement from its beginning. However, the pervasive elitism and racism within the movement obscured the participation of Black women and marginalized their distinct experiences (Peterson, 2019). In 1973, Black feminists originally based in New York felt the need to form a separate Black feminist organization, which eventually became known as the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO). Most of the leaders of this new movement had previously been active in the Black liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s, and their ideologies were greatly influenced by the objectives and tactics employed in those earlier movements (Webster, 2022).

The political positions of the Black feminist movement led to the development of anti-racist politics — distinct from the objectives of white women — and anti-sexist politics — distinct from those of white and Black men. Initially, Black women viewed their struggles as resulting from subjugation by men and identified the systemic challenges contributing to their disenfranchisement. Within the Black liberation movements, Black women were frequently hypersexualized in media and within the movements themselves.

Differences Within the National Feminist Movement

Some of the key differences between Black and white women in the national feminist movement were centered on the racism experienced both inside and outside the movement, as well as differences in economic and social status. White women had not been subjected to the racism that had a multigenerational impact on the Black community — the history of liberation movements and activism that stretched from Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation through the Black Panther movement in the twentieth century (Crenshaw, 1989). Economically, white women held an advantage: they could obtain employment without racial discrimination, access healthcare that lowered child mortality rates, and exercise their democratic rights without discrimination — opportunities routinely denied to Black women.

Black women faced discrimination when seeking healthcare and employment and were denied basic democratic rights. This pervasive racism affected women's economic and social welfare, often forcing them to raise children as single parents. These experiences were central to Black women's concerns within the feminist movement, yet they did not resonate with the white women who held leading roles and constituted the majority of participants (Nast, 2022). The portrayal of Black women as angry and hypersexual within the feminist movement further contributed to the establishment of a separate Black women's movement (Taylor, 1998). Tactics honed during the civil rights movement — which Black women brought to feminist organizing — created additional friction, as white women were often unfamiliar with these approaches or considered them too confrontational.

The experiences of Black feminists shaped their focus on racism and sexism as the primary factors affecting their existence. As articulated in Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female, a feminist pamphlet authored by Frances Beal in 1969:

"It is idle dreaming to think of black women caring for their homes and children like the middle-class white model. Most black women have to work to help house, feed and clothe their families. Black women make up a substantial percentage of the black working force, which is true for the poorest black family and the so-called 'middle-class' family" (Nast, 2022).

Beal noted that the plight of Black women was overlooked at the national level and by Black men. Black feminists felt that Black men understood the consequences of subjugation as men but failed to acknowledge the additional burdens borne by Black women.

Conclusion

Groups such as the Combahee River Collective also faced backlash from the Black community, since the norms they championed were contrary to long-held Christian values in that community. Furthermore, Black feminism was perceived by many Black men as a threat to their role as patriarchs in the Black family and as a challenge to the recognition of Black women's contributions to the civil rights movement. The emergence of Black feminist movements was also viewed by some as counterproductive to the broader civil rights struggle. Nevertheless, the efforts and frameworks established by the collective have since expanded to include members of the LGBTQ community (Reed, 2019).

Today, there has been a meaningful shift in the perception of Black women's role in society, with more Black women being appointed or elected to positions of public influence. Attitudes toward the advocacy for equality among Black women, Black men, and queer members of the community have likewise shifted toward greater acceptance of Black women's autonomy. The Black feminist movement — now broader in scope and more varied in its areas of focus than it was in the twentieth century — has achieved greater success in addressing the challenges of gender equality, while continuing to confront persistent systemic racism.

References

Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1(8). Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf

Nast, C. (2022). How Black feminists defined abortion rights. The New Yorker. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/how-black-feminists-defined-abortion-rights

Peterson, M. (2019). The revolutionary practice of Black feminisms. National Museum of African American History and Culture. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/revolutionary-practice-black-feminisms

Reed, A. (2019). The Combahee River Collective statement [Ebook]. The University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://americanstudies.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Keyword%20Coalition_Readings.pdf

Taylor, U. (1998). The historical evolution of Black feminist theory and praxis. Journal of Black Studies, 29(2), 234–253.

Webster, S. (2022). A qualitative study of the evolution and erasure of Black feminism in historic and contemporary sociopolitical movements, and Black men's resistance to Black feminism. McNair Scholars Research Journal, 10(15). Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1124&context=mcnair