Yall Just Don't Like Black Women

Black Feminism

Part 1

by Jasmine

In her 1970 essay "Double Jeopardy: To be Black and Female," Frances Beal writes "A revolutionary has the responsibility not only of toppling those that are now in a position of power, but of creating new institutions that will eliminate all forms of oppression." Beal, director of the Black Women's Alliance and founding member of the Third World Women's Alliance, is a central figure in the emergence of Black feminism as a revolutionary framework. "Double Jeopardy" discusses how racism and sexism overlap to oppress Black women and critiques the Black Power and Women's Liberation movements for casting aside the needs of Black women.

Beal calls the Black woman a "slave of a slave," stating that while Black men have been emasculated by American society, Black women have been subject to oppression from white people and Black men. She says the Black Power movement's masculine leadership and ideology has caused people to believe that "in order for the Black man to be strong, the Black woman has to be weak." She argues that Black women's contributions to the movement should be celebrated, not suppressed. Beal considers the belief that Black women should become submissive to be "counterrevolutionary."

Beal also dedicates a section in her essay to the problems with the women's movement. She states, "Any white group that does not have an anti-imperialist and anti-racist ideology has absolutely nothing in common with the Black woman's struggle." According to Beal, the women's movement is for the middle class white woman and the issues they face are not always relevant to Black women's experiences. For example, she says that while access to the birth control pill is an important issue for feminists, its "outright surgical genocide" because of the forced sterilization caused by testing the pill on poor Black and Puerto Rican women. This disconnect on issues is why Beal believes she cannot support the Women's movement unless it becomes dedicated to "total emancipation."

Finally, she says that Black women "have very specific problems that have to be spoken to." She believes that only Black women are equipped to solve those problems. By advocating for themselves and simultaneously attacking multiple systems of oppression, Black women are creating a society where all forms of oppression are eliminated.

The emergence of Black feminism during the 1970s was a result of exclusion caused by discrimination in the Black Power and Women's Liberation movement as well as Black women's desire to advocate for themselves and organize around issues unique to them. For one, both movements held beliefs and rallied around issues that ignored Black women. Also, feminist and Black Power organizations' non-intersectional approach to liberation marginalized Black women but did not prevent them from participating in the movements. Finally, Black feminist organizations formed to give Black women the space to advocate for themselves, independent from Black men and white women.

In 1968, Black women began to form independent organizations and advocate for themselves. At a SNCC New York chapter meeting, Frances Beal presented a paper which recommended that SNCC form a Black women's caucus to explore the impacts of sexism. The Black Women's Liberation Caucus (BWLC) formed despite those opposed believing it was too divisive. The BWLC looked at how race, gender, and class interacted to develop an interpretation of Black women's standpoint in society. In 1969, the BWLC split from SNCC because SNCC was struggling financially. Women in the BWLC believed that an independent Black women's organization was necessary to address the needs of Black women and not forget them. Members disagreed with Black Power's gender roles and feminists' attention to the middle class white woman. Thus, the BWLC became the Black Women's Alliance (BWA). The BWA was concerned with dispelling the myth of the Black matriarchy and reevaluating how slavery impacted Black women. They also wanted to redefine the role of Black women in the revolution to combat the sexist version of the revolutionary Black woman that the Black Panthers created.