The Combahee River Collective
“As Black women we see Black feminism as the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face.”
I think my main takeaway here was learning about an organization of Black lesbian women who work together to try and put an end to racist, classist, and sexist oppression. They talk about how they can face this among the Black community as well as outside of the Black community. This really connects for me into the other major text.
Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”
“These accusations, coming from the very women to whom we look for deep and real understanding, have served to keep many Black lesbians in hiding, caught between the racism of white women and the homophobia of their sisters.” (Pg 121-122)
From reading the Combahee River Collective to reading this, the idea that Black lesbian women face discrimination from their own peers really hit hard. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to feel racism from white people, then white women, on top of homophobia from potentially Black men as well as Black women. It solidifies the notion of intersectionality to me.
Ijeoma Oluo- So You Want to Talk About Race
“Everything is Whiteness” (24:07)
I found Oluo’s introduction and beginning speech extremely powerful. At Target, we had to receive training on how to treat POC customers. So when she mentioned in the beginning about clerks following her around the store, it made me remember that training. I feel like it was valuable training too. Because like Oluo says, it’s Black people who have the possibility of conversations ending badly, not white people (~21:29).
Nina Simone- “Four Women”
I honestly just felt the emotion behind the song. It encapsulates the different hardships Black women have went through from slavery to sexual assault, the exact things mentioned in the three major readings. Simone’s voice was alluring yet powerful. I’ve never heard this song before, but I’m glad I have.
Key Words: lesbianism, sexism, homophobia.
Question for the class: How can we improve our efforts to listen to those facing discrimination?
*I know you encourage us putting images and making these posts colorful, but how impacted I was by Oluo’s quote of everything being whiteness, I’ve decided to leave this post completely blank of color. Because unfortunately, everything is white*
