African American Feminists

Doetsch-Kidder’s (2016) monograph defines the important role of intersectionality as a defining sea-change in the way that women of color began to unify across racial and cultural barriers. Interviews with minority activists define the perception of the diversification of feminist ideology through the lens of intersectionality. One interview with a African-American activist named Donna illustrates the unity between women of color that evolved in the 1970s: “But overall, we are all fighting for civil rights, so there has to be some type of overlap with each one” (Doetsch-Kidder, 2016, p.103). This development defines the “overlapping’ ideology of different feminist groups, which soon began to devolve the racial and cultural barriers not only between women of color, but also with white feminist groups. In Doetsch-Kidder’s (2016) point of view, the civil rights movement laid the foundation for intersectional feminist principles to be practiced for women seeking greater representation in the workplace.

Life for African Americans has never been truly easy, especially during slavery and Reconstruction. In the United States, African Americans have always been placed into situations where they have had to fight for their citizenship and to be equal to whites. Through slavery and Reconstruction, whites would constantly perform several different types of violent acts to belittle and control both black men and women. These acts of violence included verbal harassment, beatings, rapes, and sometimes, even murders. Thus, all of this structured the political, social, and economic citizenship of African Americans.

The aim of the thesis is to analyze and discuss the African American women`s quest for voice, acceptance and fulfilment. The analysis will be based on three selected novels, namely, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Color Purple and Beloved. Since their authors - Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker all - experienced some difficulties in their life related to the subject matter of the thesis, their biographies will be sketched, too. The analysis focuses especially on three women who are the protagonists of the selected novels. Their personal and social problems will be juxtaposed within the context of the criticism selected for the purpose of this thesis.

1-a) Women in African-American clubs in the early 20th century believed their role was to help the black race through the idea of racial upliftment. Uplift is the practice of economic and social self-help, where educated middle class club women taught working class black women how to improve their home life and education. This is achieved through concentrated social services work. Club’s such the National Association for Colored Women (NACW), the Tuskegee Woman’s Club and the Colored Women’s league held lectures that taught young girls virtues temperance and how to run needed community services. Club women such as Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells and Anna J. Cooper called for a “united black womanhood to solve the race’s problem” (Gray White,

By 1815, slavery within America was already institutionalised affecting the majority of African Americans; by 1860, there were 3.5 to 4.4 million enslaved African Americans as a result of the Atlantic Slave Trade in comparison to the 488,000–500,000 free African Americans. The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freed all enslaved African Americans; nonetheless, African Americans were still considered inferior. Especially African American women who were treated significantly worse- sexually exploited, rejected by various southern suffragette groups as well as the National Woman Suffrage Association which opposed the 15th Amendment, enabling African American men to vote, fearing the setback it could cause women in obtaining the vote. Historian Deborah Gray White highlighted the status of being an African American woman stating that being "Black in a white society, slave in a free society, woman in a society ruled by men, female slaves had the least formal power and were perhaps the most vulnerable group of antebellum America." From 1815 to 1917, the lives of white women improved economically, socially and politically. Nevertheless, the improvement of African American women could be questioned. Therefore, this essay will focus on how the lives of African American women from 1815 to 1917 were marked by continuity rather than a period of change and improvement.

Underlying the feminism movement of the 1960s and 1970s was the “white racist ideology.” The women’s movement of the 1960s was in fact the white women’s movement. It was an opportunity for white feminists to raise their voices, but they only spoke about the plight of the white woman and excluded themselves from the collective group of women across all races and social standings. White women assumed that their experience was the experience of all women. When black women proclaimed that the movement was focused on the oppression of white women, the white feminists asserted “common oppression” and retorted with “oppression cannot be measured.” Ironically, feminists in the 1960s compared their oppression to the oppression of African Americans as

African American women never receive the true recognition they deserve; and as women we need to know who we are, and why we are important to this nation and to the world. African American women have several contributions to the United States. Their contributions are in fashion, entertainment, art, literature, economics, education, and so much more. Throughout the years these contributions have increased and are continuing to skyrocket as the days go by. Many African American women have made history due to their hard work, and dedication and most of the time it goes unnoticed due to their skin tone and their sexuality. Black women also face several negative stereotypes. They are often seen as angry, ignorant, hostile human beings. It often makes it harder for them to be taken seriously. There are several factors to the stereotypes and are often false, and give black women a bad outlook. Black women are our fighters against slavery, representation of women’s suffrage, the majorettes for the march on civil rights, and the hardworking women in both world wars.

African American women advocate for social change in the Progressive Era by forming and participating in an organization that advocates for women suffrage, racial violence, and improvement of social conditions.

facilities (Reichert et al., 2007). This particular argument may stem from the lack of safe, but free, areas to exercise; many low-income neighborhoods do not have safe sidewalks, parks, or even free recreation centers to participate even if the desire was there. A prevalent argument that both African American and Hispanic women use as to their inability to obtain a healthy exercise routine is that the additional money needed to provide for childcare while exercising does not suffice a cost to benefit (Reichert et al., 2007). A study done in regards to the Hispanic population found that in the case of parents, money would be spent on a child’s participation in sports or exercise before an adult (Steenhuis, Nooy, Moes, & Schuit, 2009). That

lthough the enslaved women were married, their husbands could not protect them because of the control that the masters had over both spouses. Many times, due to rape and sexual intercourses between the slave and masters, both white and African American women had to keep their pregnancies hidden and they were not allowed to speak on who the father of the babies were. Often times black women would rebel against their masters because they felt it was morally wrong and often like "their ancestors and counterparts of Africa, most slave women took their motherhood seriously. They put this responsibilities before their own safety and freedom, provided for children not their own, and gave love even to those babies born from violence." (Hallam, 2004) . If a enslaved women, who had children, were to tell who the child's

Angelia Emily Grimké, a sister, a wife, a women’s right advocate, and a women who fought tirelessly against slavery. Grimké held her composure in hostile crowds, even as stones were casted out, and harsh words cut into the dust filled air. This strong independent woman fought for those who could not fight for themselves. She lived in a time when women were encouraged to keep their heads low and their opinions kept to themselves. Grimké worked along with her sister to fight for rights that at the time did not come easily. In today’s world, the thought of women and the African American race having little input in the government or day to day living is disturbing. Americans take great pride in having a voice and the ability they have to use that voice at any time of any day. Unfortunately these times were not always easy to come by. People like Angelia Grimké paved the way for those rights and the overall rights of equality. She accomplished this by expressing her opinion and beliefs to those who were not always willing to agree. Grimké and many like her fought the hard fight and did not give in when they were outnumbered. Grimké came from a slave owning family in the south; therefore, she saw firsthand the effects of slavery. Into Grimké’s adult life, she moved north and further developed her beliefs through her relationship with God and devotion to her Bible, as well as, historical documents like the Constitution. These developed beliefs seen in her published

African American women have strived for equal justice against men for many years. These women have fought for their education, rights to vote, and even certain jobs. Some that are well known for this act of justice are Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott, and Maria Stewarts. These three women's accomplishments during the civil rights era were so great that they still impact our world today.

They argued that the initial feminist ideologies merely fought to give white women equal opportunities with white men. Therefore, the misrepresentation of the minority women ignited anger as they felt white women will oppress the minority once they become equal to their counterpart. They changed their organization target from only black women to third world women. This was done to unify and reflect awareness to the organization. They attracted welfare mothers, community workers, and campus radicals (Third World Women’s Alliance,132). Moreover, the issues they challenged included family gender roles and racism. The members of the Third World Women’s Alliance worked towards eliminating the stereotype that the black communities are run by the female gender. This myth caused others outside of the organization to believe inequality wasn’t a concern in black communities.

In an attempt to define Black Feminism, Collins clarifies that it must “avoid the idealist position that ideas can be evaluated in isolation from the groups that create them (Collins 385).” This clarification forms her basis for why Black Feminism is necessary, and who it serves. Thinking about feminism historically, the concerns of black women were pushed aside in favor of fighting sexism; a notable example occurs within the Suffrage movement, where votes for white women were prioritized over women of color in order to push such legislation through. And even when feminism began looking at other social injustices, such as racism and class issues, often only prominent feminists were invited to the discussion. What resulted was, and often continues to be, a problem of white women speaking for oppressed people. It’s impossible, Collins argues, to have Black Feminist thought without examining the experiences and positions of African American women. Therefore, Black Feminism must be a movement that “encompasses theoretical interpretations of Black women’s reality by those who live in it (Collins 386).” However, such a definition brings about many questions:

These explanations analyze factors such as fear of dividing the minority community, lack of knowledge of feminism, the focus on male liberation in the black social movement in the 60’s, and the idea of matriarchy (Simons). Overall, black feminist, on the other hand, believe that racism, the major factor, hinders the development of feminist awareness among minority women and other problems that seem to arise within the feminist movement and community (Simons).