Black Women In The 1963 March On Washington

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), women played a big part in not only keeping the crusade alive, but also played a big part in energizing the masses to continue the long and arduous struggle against the seemingly impenetrable institutions of power which disenfranchised African-Americans and regarded their humanity as nothing more than mere pieces of property owned by others. Women like Coretta Scott King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Septima Clark and countless mothers, sisters, and daughters proved to be important

The marchers gathered at the Washington Monument before dawn as planned on August 28, 1963. At 11:30, 100,000 to 200,000 of them began marching towards the Lincoln Memorial singing “We Shall Overcome” (“The March on Washington” 12). At the memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered multiple speeches along with other African Americans about segregation and discrimination issues. During one of his speeches, King Jr. declared that “we will not hate you, but we cannot obey your unjust laws. Do to us what you will and we will still love you…But we will soon wear you down by our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience, that we will win you in the process” (“Negro Protest Movement” 507). This statement by King Jr. describes his plans of further nonviolent protesting against “unjust laws” to convince others of the civil rights movement’s cause. He furthers this statement and elaborates his ideas in his infamous speech, “I Have a Dream.”

Women made substantial progress during this era, but African Americans were severely limited in their fight for civil rights. The black population saw little to no advancement in their fight for civil rights, as progressives were known to share the prejudices of the time and considered other reform movements more important and beneficial to society. A leader in the African American community, W.E.B. Dubois pointed out in The Crisis that progressive reforms had failed short in its ideals for civil rights equality, as blacks were still oppressed and segregated. (DOC I) Black men were being drafted into war and serving gladly for their country, yet only saw further segregation under the Wilson presidency. However, the women’s rights movement was a powerful and the driving force of the progressive era. The phrase “New Women” was created to describe the young, college educated women who were pursuing careers and looking for equality. It was primarily middle class women who drove the reforms of this time, and it was through groups such as The National American Women Suffrage Association and the National Women’s Party that they fought for equal rights, like the right to vote.

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

The gender bias found in relation to leadership in the civil rights movement often excludes African-American women’s contributions as being of less importance and prominence; however, in hindsight informal leaders were on equal level with formal leaders and bridge leaders served an important function resulting from exclusion.

On August 28, 1963 more than 250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington. Addressing the protesters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Profoundly, he proclaimed for a free nation of equality where all race would join together in the effort to achieve common ground. King stated his yearning for all colors to unite and be judged by character, not by race. African Americans would not be satisfied until their desire for freedom from persecution, bitterness, and hatred prevailed. Not only were the points in his speech powerful, but also the delivery he gave was so persuading and real

For the sake of analysis and a broader understanding of historical context, it is important to acknowledge that the emergence of Black Feminist ideology was not solely in response to the disregard of the needs of African American women in mainstream feminism, but in the ongoing civil rights and black liberation movements, as well. These movements primarily focused on the oppression practiced towards black men and were known for demonstrating sexism towards the women involved despite the crucial role that they were playing. Black women were often forced to stay in the background as unsung heroines while their male counterparts were recognized as leaders. Therefore, the origins of Black Feminism can be tied to the misogynist tendencies

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.

In history, women have always struggled to gain equality, respect, and the same rights as men. Women had had to endure years of sexism and struggle to get to where we are today. The struggle was even more difficult for women of color because not only were they dealing with issues of sexism, but also racism. Many movements have helped black women during the past centuries to overcome sexism, racism, and adversities that were set against them. History tells us that movements such as the Feminist Movement helped empower all women, but this fact is not totally true. In this paper, I will discuss feminism, the movements, and its "minimal" affects on black women.

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:

Society continues to nurture these depriving situations and demonstrate lack of concern towards black women by not celebrating them for the roles they played in the movements. Taylor (1998) asserted that, “despite the fact that the most celebrated leaders of the modern civil rights movements were men, African American women participated at every stage in the struggle for justice and equality” (239). Although black women were not in public eyes during these movements, it was their vision and organizing roles they played that helped in the progression of many liberation movements.

The women’s movement began in the nineteenth century when groups of women began to speak out against the feeling of separation, inequality, and limits that seemed to be placed on women because of their sex (Debois 18). By combining two aspects of the past, ante-bellum reform politics and the anti-slavery movement, women were able to gain knowledge of leadership on how to deal with the Women’s Right Movement and with this knowledge led the way to transform women’s social standing (Dubois 23). Similarly, the movement that made the largest impact on American societies of the 1960’s and 1970’s was the Civil Right Movement, which in turn affected the women’s movement (Freeman 513). According to

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).” In reality, this 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, most notably during the Suffrage movement. And even when feminism began looking at other social injustices, such as racism and class issues, 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: who’s experiences are valued, how do black women take their voice back, and how can they center feminist thinking on their own unique standpoint?

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.

In the attempt to gain equality for women across gender barriers in all aspects of society, the battle that women have had to endure throughout history has been anything but peaceful. Particularly in the United States, the women’s liberation movement is an example of how women in the U.S. took a stance to protest for their civil and reproductive rights, domestic violence issues, women’s suffrage, and sexual harassment and gender-based violence that is inflicted upon women on a daily basis. This movement was full of women passionate for gender based equality in the U.S, however this feminist movement was not as easy to join if you were a black woman. A reason for this hardship was because of the racial conflict and tension that is experienced by African American people living in the United States that is dated back to the inhumane implantation of slavery. Racism in America is the result of the white social construction of identity and the perpetrated norm of the “otherness.” The marginalization of disclosing black women from the U.S. women’s liberation movement demonstrates an explicit example of how the attempt to protest for gender equality was overshadowed by a racialized closed-door way of thinking. Therefore, this essay will closely examine the feminist liberation movement in the United States and explain the hardships and racial struggles that black women had to endure in their attempt to join this movement. It will look from a different angle towards this women’s