African American
Related: About this forum4 Famous Black Feminists You Never Learned About in School
Feminism, the age old F-word, is a key reason why millennial women are able to do the things they do.
Feminism has broken down barriers of inequality and liberated the daughters of a past generation to have it all: college educations, fulfilling careers, relationships on their own terms, and progressive status within their families. As women, we owe a lot to the feminist movement and to the leaders like Gloria Steinem who inspired a generation.
In honor of Black History Month, and in honor of the feminists women of color who have gone unacknowledged in the mainstream folds of the movement, I present to you a list of some of the most radical black feminists of all time.
Radical and revolutionary are terms that can be empty when not understood within their context. The following women are radical feminists because of their desire to bring attention to the plight of black women, which in some cases was and is different from the struggles of white women. Dealing with social conditions like slavery, structural racism, poverty and a denial of education, they called attention to the needs of black women in the U.S. in their own unique ways. And like other feminists, they were not afraid to be the first to do so.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/27159/black-history-month-4-famous-black-feminists-you-never-learned-about-in-school
http://www.democraticunderground.com/125516507
Number23
(24,544 posts)"in honor of the feminists women of color who have gone unacknowledged in the mainstream folds of the movement"
Sigh. Par for the course. We've had lots of conversations in this forum over the years about the lack of women of color in positions of prominence within the feminist movement. Both the real movement and the much more minor one here on DU.
K&R Florynce Kennedy particularly sounds like my kind of woman.
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)Feminism has broken down barriers of inequality and liberated the daughters of a past generation to have it all: college educations, fulfilling careers, relationships on their own terms, and progressive status within their families. As women, we owe a lot to the feminist movement and to the leaders like Gloria Steinem who inspired a generation.
But the only problem is. . . did Steinem every really SEE us? Did any of the those who are 'prominent'. I know Faludi and Wolf do. But did all of them?
I think I like this list - but they should have put Ida B. Wells on there. Some might say - Eh? Didn't she 'break' the bond between white and black feminists? And they can say that - that's okay.
But she also refused to march at the back of a Temperance/Suffrage Parade so that White Southern Women could feel comfortable knowing that 'Sapphire' is at the back - far far away from them so they don't need anyone to get the vapors.
And sadly - very few woman and black Americans in general know who she is. And her name does not roll easily off the tongues of white feminists in America either.
Number23
(24,544 posts)A very, VERY valid question. It should as no shock to anyone that black women had to practically invent their own feminist movement due to the lack of representation, visibility, hell even ACKNOWLEDGEMENT within the larger (white) feminist movement. This is still happening amongst the feminist movement, glbt movement, shoot, I even read about a black, disabled, veterans movement. Even today, people of color still feel that too often people want our numbers and faces in the crowd, but won't let us near the seats of power, even in causes that directly impact our lives.
I think Ida B Wells would be an excellent addition. but perhaps the author of the piece felt she was a bit too well known? She did make it on a stamp back in the day, after all.
streaming1
(1 post)We have to make and tell our own "History" because no one is going to tell it for us....
http://www.streamingchurchesonline.com/
mzteris
(16,232 posts)anyone not a white male is basically ignored in history books.
Black feminists & White feminists get short shrift.
Along with:
Blacks in general.
Women in general.
Hispanics in general.
Native Americans. Irish. Italian. Asian. Jewish. Muslim. GLBT, atheists - basically anyone not considered "white enough" and "male enough" - nor "Christian" enough for that matter.
The few exceptions - "tokens" - being too great to completely ignore, though the writers of history (white males) would if they could.