New Views on Left Feminist Activism Before the 1960s (original) (raw)
E ric McDuffie's Sojourning for Freedom inspires new thinking and opens up old scholarly paradigms to fresh reexamination. McDuffie focuses on black women communists between 1919 and the 1970s, asking: why did they becomecommunists?Whatradicalizedthem?Ratherthansketchingoutthehistory of an obscure corner of black radicalism, he instead finds these women as pioneers. They opened up both activist and intellectual pathways trod by later black left feminists in the 1960s and 1970s-all the way through those who innovate within critical race theory and intersectionality in the present day.
A Black Women's History of the United States, written by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross, conveys Black women's countless testimonials within the United States dating back to pre-slavery. Although the various roles and experiences of Black women are known and have been recorded in particular parts of U.S. history, many historians and educators neglect to provide a holistic recollection of Black women's stories. Thus, Berry and Gross take readers on an exploratory journey of numerous unknown Black women throughout history, successfully readdressing and reapproaching the false narrative too often circulated about Black women within the United States. Moreover, they capture the emotional and mental turmoil Black women in the United States have experienced and continue to encounter, while also retelling moments in American history through each author's perspective. The authors tell this story skillfully, with vignettes of Black women trailblazers and lengthy footnotes documenting extensive historical research that reveals stories of self-reliance, agency, fortitude, bravery, and beauty. Berry and Gross uncover hidden and otherwise unacknowledged aspects of U.S. history from the voices and lives of Black women who marched forward, against all odds, to lead sustained change in their communities, the nation, and across the globe. A Black Women's History of the United States showcases the many themes in Black women's history that emerge across time and space. These thematic experiences entail stories of Black women's mobility, violence, activism and resistance, labor and entrepreneurship, criminalization and incarceration, cultural production, and sexuality and reproduction. These stories underscore Black women's own desires to seek out new opportunities and new worlds, domestically, nationally, and internationally. As Black women traversed new spaces, their travails profoundly influenced social, cultural, political, and legal practices. A distinguishing feature of Berry and Gross's writing is the inclusive narrative of the lived experiences of Black women from many walks of life (travelers, politicians, activists, enslaved, suffragettes, domestic workers, civil rights organizers, mothers, and sports champions), including transgender, bisexual, and cisgender voices. The stories are viscerally painful, psychologically difficult, heart wrenching, selfless, heroic, and triumphant. As Berry and Gross conclude, "We owe a debt to the Black women who came before us, those who persevered and those who did not, because the totality of their history is what informs our present and readies us to continue to demand justice, for ourselves and, by extension, for all" (p. 217). For Berry and Gross, the overall purpose of their ten-chapter book, including the introduction and conclusion, is to ". .. paint a richly textured portrait of Black womanhood in a manner that celebrates Black women's diversity and inspires readers to seek out more" (p. xi). To accomplish that task, every chapter within the book is named after a historically known or
The Feminist Leadership of Ericka Huggins in the Black Panther Party
Black Diaspora Review
Born on January 5, 1948, in Washington, D.C., Ericka Huggins was an important figure in the Black Panther Party (BPP) as well as a key Black Power era activist. A high-ranking member of the BPP, she served on the organization's Central Committee. As a writer, poet, educator, former editor of the Black Panther and Director of the Oakland Community School, Huggins was vital to the BPP as an organizer and intellectual. This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Huggins's feminist theory, her work as a revolutionary educator, and the impact of her incarceration on the BPP as a member of the New Haven 14. I argue that Huggins's experiences serve as an example of progressive gender politics in the BPP. Until recently Black women's activism has been largely neglected in BPP scholarship and this work contributes to the emerging scholarship on Black women in the most widely known organization of the Black Power Movement. This essay differs from previous interpretations on Ericka Huggins and the BPP by showcasing her voice on the intersections of Black Power and Black feminist politics in the BPP.
Black feminism in the United States of America
In this paper I would like to emphasize the story of the black woman in order to evaluate the history of black feminism, their struggles and series of arguments. In doing that I will reflect upon several connections to our generational way of describing the (complex) history of feminism. Should we consider black feminism a third wave phenomenon and shelter it under that heading? Or did black feminism have its particular first and second wave? Or perhaps we shouldn’t think in terms of waves at all? I’ll try to give an answer to these questions with respect to black feminism and the historiography of feminism in general.