Knowra Black feminism Black feminism Black feminism is a tradition of thought and political practice centered on Black women’s experiences, analyzing how racism, sexism, and other systems of power interact.
Intersectionality : A framework for analyzing how social categories and systems of power interact to shape people’s experiences. Kimberlé Crenshaw developed the term to describe what single-axis accounts of discrimination missed.
Sojourner Truth : A nineteenth-century abolitionist and women’s rights activist born into slavery in New York. Her 1851 Akron speech became a touchstone for debates about race, gender, and political voice.
bell hooks : A Black American feminist theorist and writer who analyzed race, gender, class, and culture. Her books connected feminist critique to everyday life, education, love, and popular culture.
Black feminist literary criticism : A critical approach examining how literature represents Black women and the intersecting forces shaping their lives. It applies Black feminist questions to authorship, narrative, language, and representation.
The Black Feminist Statement : A 1977 political statement by the Combahee River Collective on identity, interlocking oppression, and liberation. It gave a concise, influential expression to the collective politics of Black feminism.
Combahee River Collective : A Black feminist lesbian socialist organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980. Its 1977 statement set out a foundational account of interlocking oppressions and collective struggle.
Anna Julia Cooper : A Black American educator, author, and intellectual who advocated for Black women’s education and leadership. Her 1892 book argued that Black women’s advancement was essential to broader social progress.
Audre Lorde : A Black American poet and essayist whose work addressed race, gender, sexuality, and difference. Her essays argued that differences among women could become sources of insight and political strength.
Reproductive justice : A movement and framework linking reproductive rights to the social conditions needed to have children, not have children, and parent safely. Black feminists and women of color organizers broadened reproductive politics beyond individual legal choice.
Intersectionality in law : The use of intersectional analysis to examine discrimination involving multiple, interacting grounds. Black feminist legal scholarship showed how single-category rules can erase Black women’s claims.
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