This week’s readings are Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference by Audre Lorde and The Combahee River Collective Statement. In Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference, Lorde talks about how different people’s perspective and ideologies on age, race, class and sex and how these different perspectives and ideologies of these topics can create conflict, mis-information and skepticism. Lorde talks about each topic in detail by stating the problem, people’s perception and idea of the problem and how it effects women and women of color. In The Combahee River Collective Statement, the reading talks about four main topics: The genesis of contemporary Black feminism, what we believe, the problems organizing Black feminists, and Black feminist issues and practice. This reading goes into great detail about each topic and how it effects Black feminist and women of color.
One thing that both of these readings have in common is they both highlight the oppression that surrounds women of color. For example, in the reading Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference, the reading states that “In a society where the good is defined in terms of profit rather than in terms of human need, there must always be some group of people who through systematized oppression can be made to feel surplus to occupy the place of the dehumanized inferior”. The reading continues on to state that “Within this society, that group is made up of Black and Third World people, working-class people, older people and women”. In The Combahee River Collective Statement, the reading states that “The most general statement of our politics at the present time would be that we are actively committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression, and see as our particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking”. the reading continues on to state that “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”.
Two quotes I found interesting from Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference, are : “Certainly there are very real differences between us of race, age, and sex. But it is not those differences between us that are separating us. It is rather our refusal to recognize those differences and to examine the distortions which result from our misnaming them and their effects upon human behavior and expectation”. Another quote is “Racism, the belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to dominance. Sexism, the belief in the inherent superiority of one sex over the other and thereby the right to dominance”. There were also two quotes that were confusing to me as I was understanding this week’s reading material. Those quotes are: “Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people”. The other quote states that “Unacknowledged class differences rob women of each others’ energy and creative insight”.
I think the song Four Women (1966) by Nina Simone relates to Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference by identifying the mis-naming of Black women. In the song, Nina states multiple times what her name is, however each time, she names a different name such as Aunt Sara or Sarah, Sephronah or Saffronia, sweet thing or peaches. in the reading, it talks the mis-naming of black individuals as well as Black women. the reading states that “Those of us who are black must see that the reality of our lives and our struggle does not make us immune to the errors of ignoring and misnaming differences”. The reading continues on to state that “Differences between ourselves as Black women are also being misnamed and used to separate us from one another”.
Key Words: Ageism, Elitism, Purgatoried
Question: How can better inform the next generation of Black feminism?
As a black woman, my goal is to educate my daughters and to just let them know that it’s okay to talk about these things. I will also be there as a support to them if they are afraid to talk about it.
I feel like Black feminism needs to be discussed more in the Black community and the sooner the better. You don’t have to be Black to have this discussion, the more coverage and understanding is useful. If we teach our kids and the younger generation about Black feminism, oppression, sexism, etc. society would change much more than we think.
To inform the next generation about Black Feminism, it is to speak to our families and the public about what it is and how it will benefit everyone. We should teach our families to stand up against oppression. I also think talking about race to future generations, even if they are not black, is important. Talking about race can help people understand the different problems that others face and can help people know how they can help.