www.ssoar.info The Role of the Black Women in the Black Liberation Movement and the Women's Movement and on to Transnational Feminism

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The Role of the Black Women in the Black

Liberation Movement and the Women's Movement and on to Transnational Feminism

Joseph, Gloria

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The Role of the Black

Women

in the

Black Liberation

Movement

and the

Women's Movement

and

on to

Transnational Feminism

Asthe titlestatesIwillbe

discussing

^{therole thatBlackwomenin the USA} have

played

^{in two}

major

^{social movements in this} Century ^{- the Black} LiberationMovement and the Women'sMovement. Theirroleswerecritical and

pertinent

^{forces inbothmovements.}

Subsequently,

^Iwill discuss their vi¬

sion

regarding globalization

and transnational feminism.

The sixties^was atime of

profound political upheaval

within the USA. The BlackLiberation Movementcanbe consideredasthe father and mother ofa

succession of social movements. It was considered the prototype ^{for other} liberationmovements ofthe

sixties, namely

^{the Student}Movement,^the

Gay

and Lesbian

Movement,

the Women'sMovementand the AmericanIndian Mo¬

vement.The Civil

Rights Movement,

^orBlackPower

Movement,

^wasbasical¬

ly

^arevoltonthepartof Afro-Americans

against

^America'sracist doctrines.

The decade ofthe sixties witnessed dramatic _responses to the

suffering

^and

commonfateof

oppressed

^and

exploited people:

^{lack of}decent

education,

^le¬

gal lynchings, overrepresentation

^inthe

prison

system^-

they

were cannonfod- der for America's

imperialistic

^warsof

aggression

and racist laws

being

^enac- tedwiththesupport^andencouragement^ofgovemment

agencies.

Accommodation and resistancearetwostrains thatrun

through

^Black

history

and it is in theresistance category^{that Blackwomenwill be}discussed.Inthe sixties as in world

history,

^{the Black woman was in the forefront of the}

struggle

^forcivil

rights

^{and human}

dignity,

yetvery few

people

^arefamiliär with the

legion

of courageous Black^women.Inmorerecent

times,

^whocan

forget

the

spirit

of Rosa Parks when she refusedtomovetothe backofthe

bus, setting

offthe

Montgomery

^Bus

Boycott?

^Justthis

month, April 1999,

^attheage of

86,

the U.S. Senatevoted 86 to 0 to award her with

Congress' highest

^civilian

award,

^the

Congressional

Gold Medal. Thebill

authorizing

^{the awardstates:}

„Her quiet dignity ignited

^themost

significant

social movement inthe

history

ofthe United States."Trueornot,^itwasan

extremely important

^movement.

The

Montgomery

^Bus

Boycott

^of1955-56 is viewed

by

manyscholarsas

the first

major

^eventin the Black freedom

straggles

^ofthe'50s and '60s. It pro-

pelled

Martin Luther

King

^{Jr.tonational}

prominence.

^Butfora

boycott

^tobe

GlonaJoseph

successful,

tremendous behmd-the-scenes _orgamzingand

physical

energy^is

required

^Intheyears pnor^rothe

boycott

^{themostactive}and assertiveBlack

civicgroupⁱⁿ

Montgomery

^{had been} the Women 's Political Council

(WPC)

headed

by

^{Mrs Jo-Ann}

Robinson,

^thena

professor

^atAlabama State

College

It was Mrs

Robinson,

^aided

by

friends anda number of Women 'sPolitical Council

members,

^whoweretheheroines ofthe famed

Montgomery

^Bus

Boy¬

cott Thesewomentook cracialactionsinthehours

immediately following

^Mrs Parks' arrest to

actually

^{set a}

boycott

^{m motion Mrs Robinson was the} instigator^ofthe

boycott

^{She workedon}the Committee

ofOne Hundred,

^which referstothewomenwho

organized

^and

participated

^mthe transportation^of

Montgomery

^residents

dunng

^the

boycott

^{TheBlackwomendidit1}

Fannie Lou Hamer andUmtaBlackwellarebut two of the

Mississippi

womenwho braved attack and death mthen

fight

to gainthe

right

^{to vote}

Long-time

acitivist, Ella Baker^was

responsible

^{for the}

founding

^{ofthe SNCC}

(Student

Non-Violent

Coordinating Committee)

^{ThousandsofBlackwomen}

weremvolvedonthe Civil

Rights

^Movementand

played

important^rolesm raising theconsciousness ofthe wholenation tothe exisnng^racistconditions

intheSouth

Blackwomenfor themostpart have beenparücipantsⁱⁿ

daily

labor outsideof thehomeaswellas

having

^the

responsibility

^forhomeand

family

^life

Struggle

was awayof life Inadditionto racist

straggles,

^{Blackwomenhadtocontend} with the

underlying

^macho

philosophy

^{of the Civil}

Rights/Black

^Power Movement

Bemg

^{toldto Sitathome andtohave}babies for the revolutionand nottobecome mvolvedin

political struggle

^didnothavea

place

^morganiza- tionsand_groupssenousabout

bnnging

^anendto

exploitation

and oppression

inthe USA This was not

only theoretically unsound,

^{itwas even m direct} contradictiontothe

reality

^{of Black women's}

lives,

^both

histoncally

^{and at} present

As aresult of

demeaning

expenences suffered inthe movement, many Blackwomen

began

^toprotest^and

eventually

^brokeaway Olderwomeninpar¬

ticular became_peersand teacherstothe young In

1970,

^TomCade Bambara

published

^an

anthology,

^TheBlack

Woman,

ⁱⁿwhich 27 women wnters ex¬

pressed „the

nsmgdemand

by

^womenfor hberation fromtheirchattel-hkero¬

lesin amale-dominatedsociety^"

Significantly,

^{mostof the}contnbutors had

backgrounds

^{inthe Civil}

Rights/Black

^PowerMovement

Iwould liketomakeafew remarks about the MillionMan Marchwhichispart ofthe

history

^{of Black}

struggle

^Ittook

place

^{mOctober1995 andwasanevent} that astounded_everyoneand

sparked spin-off

marches among

youth

^andwom¬

en Itwas

organized by

^{the Nation}

of

^{Islam led}

by

^{MinisterLouisFarrakhan} Thereweremanypositiveeffects associated with the

march,

^{such asbrother-}

hood, solidarity,

^{commitment to}

family

^and

Community

^andthe

massing

^of thousands of Blackmen.

Basically

^I

regard it,

^as

Manning

Marable states, and I quote ^from

Emerge magazine:

^„In

^effect,

^{the Million Man March was a}

deeply

conservative and

patriarchal ^approach

^toissues that

impact

^Blackfa¬

milies andcommunities.Itwas

designed

^toavoid real mobilizationandtomove usaway from

struggle

^"The Million Man Marchwasthe

largest public gathe- ring

of African-Americans in U.S.

history,

^{but it was a collossal lost}

opportunity.

The nation's

theory,

their definition of

familiy,

^is

inherently

^a

patriarchal

^{one. It is dominated}

by

^{a male}

patriarch

^and

they

^define

family

relationsin the contextofthe domination ofwomen

by

^{men. Therewereno} demands madeon thegovemment^oftheUSA. You don't go^tothe master's housewithnodemandsonthemaster.Whatwasthe socialvision? What^was the

political

^Black

agenda?

Black Womenwere

essentially

^{excludedfromthis}

major

event,^thereasoncouchedinterms of it

being

^forthe betterment of the Blackrace.

Blackwomen^canlookbackand recall that theBlack LiberationMovementset millionsofBlackminds

operating

^{witharaisedlevel}of consciousness toward the

goal

^ofliberation from the

oppressive

^{forcesofracism.However,aswelook} backoverthe_years^weseethatallthe tactics

employed during

the movement didnotresult in any

truly

permanentsubstantial

changes

^{inthesocial andeco¬}

nomic welfare of Blacks andwomen. In

1981,

^{when Jill Lewisand I wrote}

Common

Differences: Conflicts

ⁱⁿBlack and White Feministe

Perspectives,

I

spoke

^oftheracist upsurge

currently sweeping

^{theU.S. as}

testimony

^tothe

factthatBlack Womenneededtobe

simultaneously engaged

in both the Black Liberation

struggle

^andWomen's Liberation.I

pointed

^{outcases suchasthe}

kidnapping

^{andmurdersofBlack}

children,

^{womenandmenin}

Atlanta,

Boston,

Roxbury

^and

Buffalo,

^{andthefact thatthe}Ku-Klux-Klan

openly

^{ran aKlan}

leaderfor

Congress

^onthe Democraticpartyticket and that the

newly

empo¬

wered

Reagan regime

^was

attempting

^{tointroducemeasuresthat wouldsetback} Civil

Rights accomplishments.

^And

today, 1999, eighteen

years

later,

^there- cordissimilar.ABlackman wastiedtothe backofatruckand

dragged

^tohis death.Hate crimes

against

gays andlesbians haverisen^-themostnotoriousto date

being

^Matthew

Shepherd,

the gay

College

^{Student whowasbeaten and}

hung

^{on a fence} post^and died. David

Duke,

former Klan

Leader,

^{ran for a}

Congressional

^{seat. NYC}

police

^{and thosein other}

major

^{cities are}

shooting

Blackmenfor littleor no

provocation,

^{and in the}

Supreme

^{Court,aPresident-} Bush

appointed,

^{tokenBlackman,ClarenceThomas,isoneof themostcon¬}

servative and racist

judges

^{on the Court. He has}

^supported

^{court decisions}

against

^Black

Congressional Districts,

^urbanschool

children,

^{deathrowinma-} tes, and

minority

contractors andaffirmative action.

Many

^ofthe

key

^civil-

rights

^{cases weredecided}

by

^{a5-4 vote,}with Thomas

voting against positions

GlonaJoseph

adopted by Civil-Rights

activists. That is whatImeanwhen I_saylittle has chan-

ged

with the U.S.

being

^racist.

Within the United

States,

the 1960s witnessed threecurrentswithinthefemi¬

nistmovement.

Primarily,

^therewasthe Women's

Rights

Movement which

emerged early

^inthe

1960s, inheriting

^the

legacy

^ofthe

early suffragettes'

^and

early

^women's

rights campaigns

^ofthe19thCentury.^Itwas

composed primarily by professional

^womenwho

began putting

pressure^onthe State toenddiscri-

minatory practices

^{in the}

paid

labor force. A second almost

independent

movement

emerged

from the New Left with strong ^{ties to}Marxism and a

commitmentto

producing

^{anaccountof women's}

oppression.

^Thethird

wing

was

organizd by

^{Black womenandwomen of}

color,

who had been

largely

involved in Black and Chicano liberationmovements and had

raised,

^un-

successfulby,

^the

question

^{of sexual}

politics

within thosemovements.

Black women's initial artitude toward the Women'sMovementwas one

of distrust. The historical

experiences

^of

slavery

^{left Blackwomenwith}pecu- liar

legacy

^ofscars.The material conditions ofthe lives ofmassesofBlackwo¬

mendetermined their attitudes toward feminism.A

specific

Black feministana¬

lysis

^and

approach

^wasnecessary because the

psychological dynamics

^that function _amongBlackwomenand Blackmeninthecontextof

existing

^eco¬

nomicconditionsare

qualitatively

^and

culturally

different from thoseof whi- tes.Thefeminist

question

^hasnever

truly

embraced Blackwomen.

Assuming

that the femmist

question

is directedatthecausesof sexual

inequality

^between

manand_woman,andof male dominationoverwomen, it is

important

^{to note} thatsexual

inequality

^{betweenBlackmenand Blackwomenhas}verydifferent historicalandcultural

beginnings

^{thanthe sexual}

inequality

between whitemen

andwhitewomen.Black women's

participation

in the labor force also hasa verydifferent

history

than that ofwhitewomen.Thesearebasic

underlying

^fac-

torswhichenterin the

problem

^{ofBlackwomenandtheirrolesin}the Women 's Movement.

They

^{were never}

fully

^{includedinfeminist}

theory

^{because there}

waslittle

analysis

^ontheparts ofthe white

leading

feminists abouttheracial and cultural historiesofBlackwomen. This isnot tosaythat the demandsof the feministswerenot

progressive

^fortheir

time,

^both

during

the 19th andear¬

ly

^20th Century ^and

today.

The Feminist Movement has

helped

^{to create} consciousness_amongwomen.Their

struggle

^for

political,

^{social andeconomic}

rights

^-

goals

^{thatall womenstrive}for. As bell hooks saidin herbook from

1984,

^Feminist

Theory from Margin

^toCenter.

Racism allowswhitewomentoconstructfemnisttheory^andpraxis^insuchaway that it isfarremovedfromanything resembling^radicalstruggle Racist socializa- tion teaehesbourgeois^{whitewomentothink}they^arenecessarily^morecapable^of leading^{massesofwomenthan}anyother_group ofwomen Theinability^and/or refusal ofwhitewomenin theleadership^ofthemost recentfeministmovementwas

theirunwillingness^toconfront racismand theirarrogantassumptionthat their call forSisterhoodwas anon-racist gesture

InadditiontoBlackwomen'sbattles with white feminist

theory

^and

practices, they simultaneously

^{hadtocontendwith the}

belligerent

^and

negative

^attitudes

ofa

large

segment^ofBlack male academicsandleaders. Theso-called male scholars

expressed

^their

feelings forcefully

that the Women's Movementwas anattempt^{todevidethe Blackrace}

and,

^inso

doing, destroy

^{the Black}

family They

^furthersaidthat ithadno

place

in Black women's lives. So the Black womenhadto

struggle against

^Blackmale

retrograde

attitudes and white fe¬

maleculturalarrogance andintellectual

imperialism.

Fighting

^onboth fronts didnotdetertheAfro-Americanwomaninher

struggle

for human

rights. Perhaps

^{it servedasa}spur. I shallfocusonseveral ofthe many Black women's

organizations

^{thatwereformed in}the seventies.Therewasthe Coalitition

of

Labor Union Women

(CLUW)

^{whichwas anambitious}attempt

toestablish^anational frameworkforthe

stmggles

^{ofwomenworkers Ithad} ist

problems largely

^duetoits close ties with establishedunion

leadership,

^but thewomen'seffortswereadmirable. TheNationalBlack Feminist

Organiza¬

tion

(NBFO)

^{wasoneofthefirstandmore}

important

ofthe formal feministor¬

ganizations

^that

emerged

in the seventies. It

opened chapters

^onthe East Coast and in

major

^cities

throughout

^thecountry. The purpose of the NBFO^wasto addressthe

specific

needs ofthe Blackfemale whois forcedtoliveina

society

thatis both sexistandracist.The NBFOfailedas aviableBlack feministOr¬

ganization

^becauseitcouldnotaddressorsupport^thewomenoftheBlackCom¬

munity

in any

visible,

^{concretemanner.}

Blackwomen werealso active inthe

campaign

^for

Wages

^forHousework. Its

shortcoming

^{wasthatitdidnotseekto}

concretely

transform the

relationships

between

capital,

work,

production, consumption

^{and the}distribution andac-

cumulationofincome. Blacklesbians also

began establishing

^theirowngroups,

notably

the CombaheeRiverCollective.All in

all,

^Blackwomen

recogmzed

^the

profound

^{needforBlackfeminist}

theory

^and

analysis

^{and that}

they

^hadtobeat

thecoreofthis initiative.Hence

they

^{createdtheirown}

organizations. They

^en-

gaged

ⁱⁿ

transforming

^{thehistorical} and cultural conditionsinwhich

they

^fo- und themselves.

Progressive

^{mindssawtheneed}tomoveinadirectionthatre-

presented

^womenof color from all classesandfrom allsectorsofthe world.

Transnational feminism

Globalization has

played

^a

major

partⁱⁿtransnational feminism. With

globa- lization,

^Iam

referring

^tothe rale of

markets,

moneyand multinationals.Mar¬

ket_economyisnowfree from borders andcustoms,

having conquered

^thelast

comers onearth via e-mailand theinternet. The world market

integration,

^with

GlonaJoseph

theever

deepening intertwining

^of

markets,

^{media and}

multis,

^{makes itfora}

growing dependency

of countrieson oneanother. And what does thismeanfor countrieswith less

highly developed technology?

What does itmeantotherole ofwomen? There is no sex

neutrality

^nor

gender neutrality

^{on the}

global

markets. Globalization has alsomeantthe extension ofworkdoneathome.Wo¬

menin India workoutoftheir homes

making

lace for saleonthe

global

^mar¬

ket. Women in

Yorkshire,

Britain and in Asiaare

engaged

^insimilartypes^of workathome.In

India,

^{womenwhoworkas}laborers for this international^ma- ketarenot definedasworkersor

laborers,

^butashousewives and their work definedasleisure-time

activity.

^{Whilewomenwho workan}the Silicon

Valley

inCaliforniainthe electronics

industries, primarily immigrant

^{women,arede¬}

finedas

mothers,

^wivesand

supplementary

workers. The effect is that

they help

toneutralizethe kind of work thatwomen

do, making

^it

possible

^forcorpo- rationsto

cheapen

^women'slabor while

making

^itappear^as ifwomen were

bomtoworkmore

cheaply,

^{for lower}wagesthan theirmalecounterparts.^{It is} these_women,Third Worldwomenin their countries of

origin

^and

primarily

Third World

immigrant

^{women inthe}

metropolis,

^{aswell aswhite}

working

classwomenwho makeour

consumption,

^ourvery

survival, possible.

^Weeat

bananas,

^usesalttoflavorour

food,

^drink

coffee,

^{usetiresonthecars we}

drive, depend

^onComputers,^{we wearclothesonwhich}tags^teilusthat

they

^arelar-

gely

manufacturedinThird World countries.There isadialectical

relationship

betweenour

ability

^{toconsumeandthe}

exploitative

^conditionsunder whichthe¬

se women

produce.

^{All these}

things

^we

rely

upon intheFirstWorld thatareused

asindicesof

being civilized,

^these

things

^are

produced by

^{womenintheThird}

World,

^andyet^{attimeswecontinueto}insist_upontheseparatenessbetween the Firstandthe Third World!

Transnational feminism is

accompanied by

^otherkindsoftransnationalizations whichhavea

disproportionate

^{effecton women. Iam}

referring

^{heretoa new} kindof

political

^economic

practices,

^newkindsof

imperial

^{structuresthat have} been calledthenewworld order. Thereis

something specific

^{aboutthiscontem-}

porary movementbecause ofthe_{way in}which it is

drawing

^{womeninto these}

global

processesandthe

speed

with which it has

developed

^new

technologies developing products

^thatcanbe

produced anywhere

^{and sold}

everywhere, by spreading

credit around the world and

by connecting global

Channels ofcom-

munication. Womenaredrawn into these_processesin

large

^{numbers inthe fol¬}

lowing categories:

1.

Export processing

^{zonesofthenew}transnationalfactories

operating

^onthe African

Continent, Asia,

Latin American and the

Caribbean,

the Pacificand in

Europe;

2.The

employment

^{ofnanniesanddomestic}

workers;

^Iam

speaking primarily

ofthe

exportation

^of

Philippine, Thai, Indonesian,

^Sri

Lankan,

Mexican and Caribbeanwomen asdomestic workerstoEast

Asian,

Middle Eastem and First World

destinations;

3.The mail-order bride trade wherethebride-to-beis

usually

Caucasian,^main-

ly American,

^{Australian or}

Canadian, producing

^{a new} economics ofro¬

manceinwhichabriskor

industry

^has

emerged

^toseillists of andinstrac- tional

guides

^for

prospective brides;

4.Thewomenwhoworkas

prostitutes

ⁱⁿtheir countriesof

origin

^orinthose

areasthatare

heavily

^{linkedtothe tourist}

industry, travelling

between the

red-light-districts

^of

nations,

North andSouth.

5.Domestics:Thosewomen who

provide

^{akindof Serviceasmaids. These}

women are drawn intothese_processes of

globalization

^as

ideological

^an-

chors for the

Operation

^ofmultinational

corporations.

Incontrast tothe

speed

^of

technology,

^{millionsofwomenarestill}

living

^incon¬

ditions of

dirt-poor

poverty^asthe multinationalprosper. InSouth

Africa,

^since the election of Nelson

Mandela,

thousands still live in shacksin

shanty

^towns withno

electricity,

^no

plumbing,

^{and few}

schooling opportunities,

^whileBill

Gates,

^the_young

millionaire,

opens up

shop

in rural Africa.Howisthat

going

to

help

the inhabitants in

shanty

^town?In

Algeria,

^{women are}

systematically being

^murdered

by

^islamic fundamentalists. Almost 60 percent^of

Algerian

Women cannnot read ^orwrite. In

Afghanistan

^{theTalibanhas}

virtually

^made

women non-persons. In the

Philippines,

^the govemment ^has

given mining rights

^to

foreign

constmction firmswhich will

destroy large

^areasof land that hadbeenused for

agriculture.

^Thegovemment^hasalso

agreed

^to

foreign

^rice

import

^whichwill min the market forthose

working

^{in the}rice fields.The tech¬

nology being

^used

today

^{allows the}multinationalsto continueto

exploit

^with greater

efficiency.

To saythat feminism istransnational isnot tosay that femmist

analyses

^and formsof

political organizing

^{crossborders in a} transhistorical orahistorical way,but it is_{to say}that thereare

particularities

^ofthewaysin which masculi¬

nity

^and

femimty

^areunderstood and constmcted and

particularities

^oftheways in which sexual

politics

operate^{as a}whole.

Totalkaboutfeminist

praxis

ⁱⁿ

global

^{contextsinvolves}

shifting

^{the unit}

of

analysis

^fromlocalto

regional

^andfrom national culturetorelationsacross cultures.There isadrasticneedforan

exchange

^of

experiences,

^{ideas andstra-}

tegies

^{fromallstrataofwomen}within eachcountry.

Inthesamewaythatthe Women'sMovementin the USAdidnotconsi- der thecultural andhistoricalconditionof Blackwomenin their theoreticalana¬

lysis

^{of sexism}and femmist

theory, emerging

transnational feminismmust not

GlonaJoseph

makethesamemistake. The historicalandcultural

experiences

^ofwomenfrom

everycountry^mustbe addressedin

formulating

transnationalfeminist

theory.

Itisamassive

task,

but sexism isamassive force. Afro-Americanwomenhave

played

critical and

pivotal

^rolesinboththe Afro-American Black Liberation

struggle

^{andtheWomen's}LiberationMovement.Thesuccessesofthesemove¬

ments,and there have been_successes,didnot

significantly

^alterthe

quality

^of life forwomenin

general.

Afro-Americanwomensawthe needtodo some¬

thing

^{for the}

'seif,

^{and 'seif includedwomenof}

colour,

^non-whitewomen, and_poorwhitewomenworld-wide. Globalization shifted the focus offemi¬

nism,

^andoffeminist

theory

^toa

global

^{level. Allof}us, if^wedon't pay^attenbon totheseforces of

globalization,

^willconcede the

Operation

^oftheseprocesses tomultinational

corporations,

^whonot

only

^areinvolved in thebusiness of_ap-

parel making,

^electronic

manufacturing,

^andso

forth,

^butalsointo

making

^edu¬

cation and

knowledge production

^{abusiness-THEIRbusiness.}

Literatur:

Bambara, Toni Cade (publishes ^under Cade,Toni): ^TheBlackWomen: An Ant¬

hology,^{NewYork 1970}

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