Black Feminist Thought and Black Liberation from the late 19th Century to the Contemporary Black Lives Matter Movement (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2.0, University of Frankfurt (Main) (IEAS), course: Amerikanistik, language: English, abstract: This thesis wants to fill the gap and give an insight into the development, the continuity and hence the importance of Black feminist thought within the early and ongoing Black freedom struggle. Due to the complexity and indefinite spectrum of knowledge already produced, this paper aims at outlining a perspective that bridges the late 19th/ early 20th century thoughts and efforts of Black feminists with those of the 20th/21st century.

"There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives."

Black women in the US have always played a crucial role in the struggle for freedom and recognition of human rights for the African-American population. Against all odds, they have always been the ones who looked out for and took care of the community. Be it in their own family, in the churches or while organizing resistance attempts against a consistent racism and sexism within US-society.

The opening quote by Audre Lorde, a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet", focuses on the fact that human beings do not have one singular feature which defines and impacts their way of life, interactions with or struggles against others. Heterogeneity is the keyword. Black women recognized and understood early on the importance of dealing with the intertwining of various aspects, which all define their lives. Just to name a few of those aspects: being Black and female and poor and of little standard education and - maybe - queer - Many factors define one single person's life, and therefore it is of no avail to put the focus on one single issue, when fighting for social justice.