Founding Foreemothers Of Black Feminism Essay

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Recommended: Women's influence in the civil rights movement

Khadija Mohamed
Professor A. Lynn Bolles
WMST263
20 February 2014
Founding Foremothers of Black Feminism
Throughout history and in present day, there has been a large neglect of Black Women in both studies of gender and studies of race. Combating both sexism and racism simultaneously is what separates Black Women and our history and battles from both white women and black males-combined with what is discussed as a triple jeopardy- race, sex and socioeconomic status provides black women with a completely different and unique life experience when compared to, really, the rest of the world. Beverly Guy-Sheftall discusses the lack of black feminist in our history texts stating,“like most students who attended public schools and colleges during the 1950s and 1960s, I learned very little about the involvement of African American women in struggles for emancipation of blacks and women.” (Words of Fire, 23) I, too, can agree that throughout my education and without a Black Women’s Studies course at the University of Maryland I would have never been exposed to the many founding foremothers of black feminism. In this essay, I will discuss the activism, accomplishments and contributions of three of those founding foremothers-Maria Stewart, Anna Cooper, and Ida B. Wells.
Maria Miller Stewart’s career as a lecturer and activist began after her husband David Walker’s passing. Walker, an activist and author, left Maria to carry on his legacy of activism and she did not disappoint. In 1832, Stewart became first woman to speak to a promiscuous crowd of both women and men (of both races) at Boston’s Franklin Hall for the New England Anti Slavery Society. This was absolutely unheard of before Stewart, no woman had ever spoken to a large crowd ...

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...l were simultaneiously fighting sexism and racism, never one without the other. They yearned and urged for awareness and for the empowerment of their peoples. Common themes present themselves in Stewart, Cooper and Wells-Bartlett’s speeches and writings. Education. The acknowledgement that black women will always have to fight the double jeapordy. Maria, the first founding mother, used contriversial speeches to get across her message and was the first African American woman to ever speak of race and sex issues. Cooper, the black feminist to ever realease a collection of written works on this subject used prose to accomplish her goals. Wells-Bartlett used prose but is best known for her writings on lynching. All three of these women left major contributions for black feminism and paved the roads for us today. For that, we are forever grateful.

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