Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Lovers and Friends:  Representing Neglected Black Feminist Groups’ Struggle towards Empowerment in the United States during the 1970s

Despite the 1970s black feminists’ efforts towards empowerment, black women are nevertheless overshadowed by racism and sexism in political as well as social structures in contemporary United States. Black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw initiated the social justice movement “#sayhername” in 2015 to address the severity of black women’s maltreatment and their underrepresentation in society. Her conceptualisation of “intersectionality” theory in 1989 allows for academic debate on the “matrix of oppressions” that undermines black women on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, capitalism and imperialism. This recent development has raised the necessity to overcome the effacement of black women’s narratives from the past and the present. However, roots of intersectionality theory lie in the establishment of the historical black feminist organisations that separated from the “mainstream” black liberation and women’s liberation groups to challenge the intersecting...Show moreDespite the 1970s black feminists’ efforts towards empowerment, black women are nevertheless overshadowed by racism and sexism in political as well as social structures in contemporary United States. Black feminist scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw initiated the social justice movement “#sayhername” in 2015 to address the severity of black women’s maltreatment and their underrepresentation in society. Her conceptualisation of “intersectionality” theory in 1989 allows for academic debate on the “matrix of oppressions” that undermines black women on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, capitalism and imperialism. This recent development has raised the necessity to overcome the effacement of black women’s narratives from the past and the present. However, roots of intersectionality theory lie in the establishment of the historical black feminist organisations that separated from the “mainstream” black liberation and women’s liberation groups to challenge the intersecting oppressions. This thesis examines the historical black feminist struggles towards empowerment to argue that the oppressions still need to be overcome in the 21st century United States. It discusses three different black feminist organisations that emerged in the 1970s who laid the groundwork for present-day black feminism and intersectionality theory. First, the National Black Feminist Organisation (NBFO) which was the first group to defend black women’s needs and to raise the black feminist consciousness. Second, the Combahee River Collective (CRC), which developed the pivotal basis for intersectionality theory to discuss matters of sexual orientation and lesbianism to bring minority issues to the public attention. Last, the Third World Women’s Alliance (TWWA) that established a democratic global sisterhood to educate and to empower women of colour who were equally burdened by imperialism. An analysis of these three black feminist groups illustrates how feminist and historical literature neglect black women’s accomplishments for black women’s justice. Additionally, an understanding of the historical struggles of black feminists is essential to challenge the injustices minority groups experience today. As a result, this thesis argues that new social justice movements of consciousness-raising, black women’s empowerment and a gender-inclusive political agenda are necessary to foster gender and race equality.Show less

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Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Lovers and Friends: Representing Neglected Black Feminist Groups’ Struggle towards Empowerment in the United States during the 1970s