Analysis Of Patricia Hill Collins Black Feminist

As a result, the black feminist movement developed, where black women were the sole leaders of the movement that liberated all people. Many black women believed that it was counterproductive for the Civil Rights Movement to neglect the needs of black woman because black men continued to use the same systemic oppression that white people used against them on black women. In “I Am a Revolutionary Black Woman,” Angela Davis writes that “black women constitute the most oppressed sector of society” (Davis 461). It is evident that black women have been super exploited by American society economically, sexually, and politically, making them the lowest on the social hierarchy. Because of black women’s low social standing, if the black woman is liberated, then everyone else will follow, which will ensure the liberation of all people. Thus, Davis argues that “women’s liberation is especially critical with respect to the effort to build an effective black liberation movement” (461). Unlike Hamer, Davis believes that black women should liberate themselves from the black man if they are too oppressive like the white man; black men should be held accountable for their chauvinistic efforts, and should embrace the fight for liberation of women just as black women supported the liberation of black men.

In this journal entry Dr.Sarah Jackson, social movements professor at Northeastern University, reports her interview with Cathy J. Cohen an African American author, feminist, and social activist. Cohen’s answers are highlighted and observed because they help build a conclusion to the questions about the role of gender in BLM. This interview is only months old and can speak to a new generation of females who feel their stories don’t matter and can’t be heard. In the interview Cohen expresses different subjects that concern African American feminist in the racial struggles for equality. The main argument of the interview is that BLM is a growing movement and that it will address issues of gender- particularly violence against Black women while having women activist at the center of BLM strategies and tactics.

The article titled, Black Women Thought; Matrix of Domination, by Patricia Hill Collins explores the oppression of African-American women. While there is also a theme of individual empowerment, Collins’ ends the article by stating, “only collective action can effectively generate lasting social transformation of political and economic institutions” (cite). I believe Collins’ motivation for this article was to bring awareness and to inspire change.

People and communities can fight to demolish these preconceptions and promote more inclusive and equitable societies by realizing how they support power structures. Furthermore, Black women's emphasis on agency and resistance serves as a reminder of how critical it is to elevate marginalized voices and narratives in the continuous fight for social

Some see gender as being “Black and White” and it is, literally. With numerous gender ideologies, not only is there division between the Black (African Americans) and the White (fair skinned Europeans), but between men and women as well. Generally, white men and white men only hold most of the power in the world that there is to possess and it has consciously been set up for them to do so. The technical name for this global concept is hegemonic masculinity. This highly sexist and blatantly racist model has been implemented by bigoted western agendas to then be culturally and systematically carried out for centuries; sometimes without question. In her novel “Black Sexual Politics”, Patricia Hill Collins masterfully highlights just how much hegemonic masculinity altered the once blissful power structure, not just in the western world but specifically within the homes of the Black community. She also confers the several quintessential benchmarks within hegemonic masculinity that the Black man must uphold in order for him to unambiguously maintain his “dominant” status.

In “The Power of Self-Definition,” Patricia Hill Collins stresses that self-reliance, self-knowledge, and self-valuation are necessary to empower Black women to create their own self-definitions.

Patricia Collins used her own experiences as a black feminist to expand her knowledge and experiences to include oppression based various classifications in her Matrix of Domination. This concept differs in that it does not focus on one specific aspect of the race, gender or social status. This concept is referred to as an interlocking system of oppression. Her views are considered radical for she is the first to view oppression as a more dynamic and complex system, which is a better representative of the issue. The take away from her teachings is to understand that everyone has a different social status and condition.

Patricia Hill Collins’ piece, Defining Black Feminist Thought, sets out to do exactly that: to determine what Black Feminism is, who is a Black Feminist, and who can become a Black Feminist. While not always specifically stated, her argument and analysis arises from the historical context of the role of Black women in feminist and activist spaces, as well as the social reality of differing lived experiences of African American women from traditional white female feminists. Created in 1990, Collins’ work is well situated in the time period of Third Wave Feminist thinking, incorporating strong themes of the need for intersectionality and altering opinions within feminism, as well as proposing that multiple versions of feminism can be

Patricia Hill Collins’s work, Black Feminist Thought seeks to center Black Women into intersectionalist thought, addressing the power struggles that face them not only due to their race but also to the gender. Masculine rhetoric and powerful male leaders such as Huey P. Newton and Eldridge Cleaver have overshadowed Black Women’s stories, both in and out of the Civil Right Rights/Black Power

In Elise Johnson McDougald’s essay “The Task of Negro Womanhood,” she elaborates on the difficulties of being a black, working woman in society. In order to understand the struggles of a black woman in America, “one must have in mind not any one Negro woman, but rather a colorful pageant of individuals, each differently endowed” (McDougald, 103). This is because to be able to understand the problems they face as individuals one must think of black women as a collective unit. McDougald focuses on the women living in Harlem because they are more free and have more opportunity to succeed than in the rest of the United States. Though they are considered more

Patricia Hill Collins’ piece, “Defining Black Feminist Thought”, sets out to do exactly that: to determine what Black Feminism is, who is a Black Feminist, and who can become a Black Feminist. While not always specifically stated, her argument and analysis arises from the historical context of the role of Black women in feminist and activist spaces, as well as the social reality of differing lived experiences of Black women from traditional white female feminists. Created in 1990, Collins’ work is well situated in the time period of Third Wave Feminist thinking, incorporating strong themes of the need for intersectionality and alternate opinions within feminism, as well as proposing that multiple versions of feminism can be possible,

I’ve read different parts of Patricia Hill Collins Black Feminist Thought throughout the years, but it’s not until now that I see a connection between Collins idea of Black Feminist Thought and Michel Foucault analyses of power/knowledge. With Black women in academia, as Collins stated, we see how higher education or universities surveil Black women when they are doing intellectual work. Collins makes a valid point in the academic discourse, white males control the knowledge validation process. White males can deny black women credentials to produce black feminist thought with the reasoning that it is not credible research. Universities are legitimizing their claims of knowledge to make sure their works are not altering the power of white heterosexual

In all honesty, I like Patricia Hill Collins’ claims to Black feminism as a start to feminist understanding. Nothing is ‘black and white’ in terms of feminism and gender equality. While as a whole, women are certainly treated different from men, treatments are varied from unfair, to radically oppressive, to advantaged. According to Dalton Conley’s view of Patricia Hill Collins, she wrecked the classic feminist vantage point. By adding race as a factor, she turned feminism from a central point of view to a view that had more social variables, some with more weight than gender itself.

Patricia Hill Collins addresses the issue of how focussing on the naming of particular struggle can become a “political distraction” from gendered racist and sexist oppression that Black Women face (Alexander-Floyd & Simien 2006) Collins contends that womanism “exaggerates out group differences and minimises in group variation by assembling a stable and homogenous racial group identity” (Alexander-Floyd & Simien 2006) potentially, this comes with the ubiquitous essentialisation of Black Women struggles, which denies varied experience of Black Women who align with various social-culture heritages.

I don't think I quite remember when I started to identify as a black feminist. There was never that moment of clarity because to me black women are equal to everyone, we deserve to be recognized and celebrated just like everyone else. This movement was founded on the historical disadvantage of women. Black feminism to be specific is the desire for equal access to opportunities for females, not systemic racism, sexism, mass incarceration etc. People get so hung up on the word but fail to realize that feminism fights for gender equality in a culture that has historically devalued women. Feminism isn't about making women stronger, we're already strong. It's about society acknowledging that strength and treating us as equals. What everyone fails