The Search for Equailty: Africana Womanism

Throughout history, People of color have struggled with issues of racism and discrimination, African American women; however, have been faced with those issues in addition to sexism. Having to combat these issues of oppression simultaneously some chose to focus on racial oppression while others gender oppression. With these two focuses we have the creation of womanist and feminist, both of which propose valid arguments but only one truly captures to issues of African and Black women.

To begin let us differentiate the two terms. Feminism is known as female-centered revolving around the empowerment of the female in an exceedingly patriarchal society. The feminist movement was essentially comprised of theories originating strictly from a white woman’s perspective to serve the needs of other white women. Feminist saw men as the principal enemy restricting them from any attainable agency. They fought for equal rights for white women in jurisdiction via organizations like the national organization for women (CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITY FOR ALL WOMEN, 1995). In contrast to the way white men have oppressed white women, women of the African descent have always been equal, and in some cases superior, to their male counterparts due to the fact both have been partners in the struggle against oppression. Men of the African Diaspora were not provided the same power to oppress women of color (Aldridge & Young, 2003). It with this in mind that the Black feminist emerges.

Women have been divided over feminism, its definition and practice, since the first suffragettes demanded area in politics (Weinberger, 2012). Black Feminism is a more family-centered approach to equality for females. It is the acknowledgement that both sexism and racism have op...

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...riad of platforms. Africana womanism makes sure to commend Africana women for their ability to remain strong and play pivotal roles in society being active and assertive in a variety of ways. All in all, Africana womanism sought to celebrate the ways in which women discussed and battled oppressions not only in their individual lives but also as a whole. It allowed for woman to combat the systems of oppressions that held them back for many years with out having to focus primarily on race or gender. Africana womanism took into consideration the valuable relationships these women have with the men in their community and prosed an efficient way for them to stand up against subjugation without damaging these relationship. Unlike feminism, Africana womanist have the ability to ask for equal power as men while celebrating their femininity and roles as mothers and sisters.