Unlearning Oppressive Behaviors (Black Feminism & Intersectionality)

Hello, remember me? I've had a major case of writers block and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to get over it. But alas, here we are and it’s only right that I come back and talk about one of my favorite topics, feminism. Whilst I've been away I've had some growing up to do. I'm sure some of you are probably thinking here we go again with this feminism bullshit but tough shit. I will start by saying this, not all feminism looks the same, and I have always acknowledged this (in a way I’ve always been about that life haha). I have noticed that white women drive the narrative around feminism. Feminism is exclusive and it does nothing to uplift/help those who do not fit into a certain mold i.e. black women, trans women, women of color and yes even size seems to matter. 

We know what feminism does to Black women. Historically speaking a lot of women's activism were only about voting rights for white women or equality for white women and white women only. White women may be able to relate when it comes to sexism but racism is one barrier that actually benefits them. The issues that black women deal with are over shadowed by the issues white women have to deal with. Let's take in the #MeToo movement for example, the movement started out as a movement founded by a BLACK WOMAN about the abuse and oppression of black women. They (white women celebrities) took the hash tag, silenced the founder as the founding voice and made it their own. I'm not taking away what the movement has done for a lot of women and some men alike but silencing black women/black voices has always been how feminism operated at heart. 

 Enter Kimberle Crenshaw and the word intersectionality. Intersectionality in feminism is approached much differently. Basically intersectionality states that there is no one-size-fits all feminism. We're not all white, straight, upper class, able bodied. We both don't go through the same struggles. The way that mainstream publications find a way to center white women even when talking about black women is why we need this movement. Yes black women have it hard because we're not just fighting for equality from the media and every other race, we're also fighting for it from the same men we fight to protect. 

Black feminism is saying I am speaking up for myself, I am taking a stand from all the segregation, being told I'm not good enough because of my skin tone, because of my nappy hair, because of the shape/size of my body and saying screw you society. Black feminism is saying I will not stop until there is gender diversity, until we stop dehumanizing women of all shapes, sizes and color. That we need to recognize and acknowledge everyones struggle not just my own.  Now I am in no way an expert on black feminism, I am still learning but I am acknowledging that we need intersectionality, we need to stop invalidating the struggles of a black woman within and outside of the black community.  

The feminism I subscribe to, that represents everything I stand for includes intersectionality. Learn about it, it's more than a buzz word. 

And P.S Dear white people a BLACK WOMAN, an amazing scholar at that coined the term "Intersectionality" so please do not gentrify it! People pour their whole lives into dissecting and defining the violence’s they experience only for you white folk to throw it around for social capital.