Black feminism

Black feminism is a movement of black women who fight for liberation from structural racism,
sexism, classism, and white supremacy. Black feminism has articulated the voice of black
women which was never raised by mainstream white women feminists. The black feminists not
only postulate their oppression based on gender, race and class but also criticize the black
patriarchal structure. They criticized the liberal, Marxist, socialist and radical feminists for
ignoring the race as a category of oppression. Black feminists claim that the analysis of the
intersection of class, caste, race, sexuality and gender is important.

Black feminism rose to prominence in the 1960s, as the excluded women from leadership
positions, and the mainstream largely focused on problems of middle-class White women.
From the 1970s to 1980s, Black feminists are organized and they started a movement to
address the role of Black women in Black activists and intellectuals formed organizations such
as the (NCNW) which play an important role in development of black feminism and women
movement.

The fight to end slavery served as an early battleground of Black female empowerment. In
1851, Sojourner Truth, a former enslaved woman, delivered a landmark speech titled “Ain’t I a
Woman?” that questioned the preferential treatment of white women in comparison to that of
women of color. She became one of the first voices to speak for the rights of Black women
whose inequalities derived from both racism and sexism. Another black woman Anna Julia
Cooper who focused on emphasizing the need to hear and listen to the voices of Black women
to bring a social change. Ida B. Wells, another Black feminist led a crusade against lynching.
These writers propelled the Black women's movement beyond white women's exclusive
feminism, the Black man's sexism, and the white man's dominance.

Proponents of Black feminism argue that Black women are positioned within structures of
power in fundamentally different ways than White women. The leading academicians on Black
feminism are bell hooks (Gloria Watkins), Barbara Smith,. Audre Lorde and Patricia Hill Collins
bell hooks spent much of her life exploring how systems of oppression can intersect to harm
Black women.
Audre Lorde fought against racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia through her work.
argues that black women are marginalised not by racism or sexism separately but by an
intersection of racism and sexism.
Patricia Hill Collins, uses the same paradigm of intersectionality to focus on the multiple
oppressions experienced by black women.

Black women initiated this movement to put an end to sexist oppression. However, soon they
realized that white women were hardly supporting them or even concerned about the
problems faced by women of colour. The racial segregation was so prominent that the word
“women” meant white women and “blacks” signified black men. This cruel practice of racial
discrimination resulted in the emergence of the Black Feminist movement, one whose sole aim
was to end racism at first. The movement emphasized upon the fact that sexism, racism and
class oppression were intersectional and interlinked. The goal of black feminists was to build
unity and cooperation amongst themselves which would, in turn, influence the American
culture significantly.

Three most abiding principles of Black Feminism:

Global awareness: Black feminists insist on the importance of fighting for the liberation of Black
women globally, rather than for just African American women. The goals of Black feminism are
to achieve justice for women of color and  BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color)
women from developed and developing countries alike.

Identity politics: Black feminism recognizes the unique injustices or privileges each person faces
as a result of their identity. For example, white might experience sexism and Black men might
experience racism, but they both remain unable to experience the specific type of racialized
sexism Black women face. This informs the sense of identity politics in the movement as a
whole.

Intersectionality: Injustice and oppression operate like an intricate web. Racism, sexism,
classism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other forms of bigotry can all intersect to
harm and challenge people in individual and distinct ways. Black feminism aims to take
an  approach to all forms of oppression, working to eliminate injustice and inequality in all its
forms.

In recent years, Black Lives Matter and other anti-racist movements continue to advocate for
Black feminism. This includes fighting for reproductive justice and against police brutality as
part and parcel with the broader goal of achieving total equality and justice for Black women
everywhere. Alicia Graza, Opal Tometi and Patrice Cullors (three Black women) founded #
BlackLivesMatter on the principles of intersectionality. Their activism centers not just on Black
Women, but also on Black LGBTQ people and other groups within black community.

Critics of Black feminism argue that divisions along the lines of race or gender weaken the
strength of the overall feminist and anti-racist movements