Combahee River Collective Statement: A Fortieth Anniversary Retrospective (original) (raw)

Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 2017

Abstract

Th e year 2017 marks the fortieth anniversary of the Combahee River Collective Statement. To commemorate and refl ect on the importance of this statement for feminist praxis, Frontiers invited feminist thinkers to respond to three questions: 1. How has the CRC statement transformed feminism? 2. What is the intellectual genealogy of women of color feminisms? 3. What is the relationship among women of color feminisms and other forms of feminisms? From these questions, themes emerged that emphasize the CRC’s impact on our collective formations as feminist scholars, the perpetual renovation of feminist concepts, and the new directions in which feminist theories take us. Aft er an introductory section on how some of our roundtablists fi rst encountered the CRC statement, the roundtable then explores two key concepts that the statement articulated, namely intersectionality and identity politics. Our commentators next analyze the genealogy of women of color feminisms as well as the connections and dissonances with Indigenous and transnational feminisms. Th e roundtable concludes with brief meditations on the importance of feminist remembrance and the continued signifi cance of the CRC statement in the current political context. Four of our authors (Diane Harriford, Tricia Lin, Zenaida Peterson, and Becky Th ompson) had the good fortune to share their ideas in person as they attended a yoga retreat in Greece! Additional scholars (Leslie Bow, Avtar Brah, Mishuana Goeman, Shari Huhndorf, AnaLouise Keating, Laura E. Pérez, and Tiff any WilloughbyHerard) participated in this conversation through the sharing of writings. All these voices are presented in conversation, which we hope refl ects the communal spirit of the Combahee River Collective.

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