Ntozake Shange’s Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo illuminates a narrative often forgotten in popular culture and history: the lives of Black women. Shange includes various Black women, all of them with differing perspectives on and experiences with racism and feminism. Set in the mid to late twentieth century, a time in which Black liberation and feminism were seeing a lot of unprecedented progress, the women in Shange’s novel are written to tackle these concepts in their own individual ways rather than in a way that is considered ‘correct.’ Shange’s writing is a mirror, reflecting the time in which the book is set rather than exhibiting an emboldened critique. Through the novel’s unabashed look at how different women of color have widely varying views on their intersectionality and on their roles in certain social movements, Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo reveals that support was a priority among doubly marginalized Black women. This support is most evident between the titular characters and their mother, Hilda Effania. Hilda, who is not seen for a majority of the novel, frequently writes to her children while they are living far from home. These letters, which are interpolated throughout …show more content…
the novel, exhibit the strong relationship among the family, as Hilda simultaneously notes her opposition and misunderstanding of the movements in which her children are involved and supports them while they “did whatever they were going to do” (Shange 55). The differences between Hilda’s and her children’s generation are exemplified through their divergent standpoints on domestic labor and art. A popular belief among white feminists during the novel’s setting was that domestic labor was a burden and a trap set up a patriarchal society with institutionalized sexism and misogyny. The popular solution to all of this, on the suggestion of feminist icon and The Feminine Mystique author Betty Friedan, many middle class white women hired Black female maids to do the job instead. While Shange’s characters do acknowledge the existence of sexism and misogyny, they all appreciate and enjoy domestic labor. However, the key difference between the characters lies within the motivations and reasoning behind why the characters enjoy the work that they do. Hilda Effania seems to like domestic labor because she “[has] to stay busy” (Shange 74). Her children often find that there is a great deal of beauty and art to be found within domestic work, despite its oppressive connotations. Hilda perfectly sums up the difference in their perspectives towards domestic labor in a letter to Sassafrass, noting that Sassafrass simply makes “weavings that hang,” while Hilda’s “serve useful purposes” (Shange 219). In the eyes of Hilda’s daughters, however, art does serve useful purposes. Cypress’ dancing help her cope with the stresses of sexism and racism, and her routines with Azure Bosom serve as a form of protest. “Azure Bosom… [was] regarded as a thrust for the future for women… [bringing] many women to tears, to joy” (Shange 141). Even in cooking for her abusive boyfriend Sassafrass finds herself a “buoyant and contented woman” (Shange 85). Art, then, is a form of support, and therefore joyful. Though Hilda does not “experience weaving as an expression of herself” (Shange 70), as Sassafrass wishes, Hilda would agree that the pleasure in domestic work is derivative from the support it provides her family. All of the support this family provides for each other does not mean that they are all on the same page, nor does it mean that they keep their opinions quiet. Though Cypress and Sassafrass expressed “their northern ways” (Shange 56), Hilda was not ready to keep her ideas to herself. Hilda complains about these neighborhood girls who have come home looking “completely African… just like mammies” (Shange 93), which Sassafrass arguably does when she is initiated into a santería. Hilda also asserts that her daughters need to “find a husband [because]... there’s nothing as heartening as a good provider” (Shange 116), all the while Cypress is having sexual relationships with women and supporting herself. Despite Hilda’s opposing conservative mindset, by the end of the novel she is comfortable with the fact that her children do not “want what [her and her generation] wanted” (Shange 225). This reconciliation comes on the last page of the novel, when all three sisters have returned home to support each other. Even the final words of the novel reinforce the importance and the idea of support: “Mama was there” (Shange 225). Throughout the novel, there are battles against postulated norms. Indigo fights for respect as the only female Geechee Capitan. Cypress fights to be one of the only Black people in a ballet group, then, in a different ballet group, one of the only females. Sassafrass fights with her boyfriend because she wants to create art that embraces both of her identities, Black and female. In the end, the girls come home. They support each other because they are all they have. The Black liberation movement ignores the importance of gender inequities, and the women’s liberation movement ignores the importance of racial inequities. In the same way these women support each other, they know, as activists, they must support both of the causes that seem to ignore them. Shange truly encapsulates the ways in which, despite being marginalized, Black women contributed and made possible the strides that were seen in the liberation movements for both Black people and women. An examination of the biggest names throughout the history of feminism— Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem— makes it quite clear that there is a racial rift within the movement. In the movement for Black liberation, we see the a similar manifestation of hierarchical values, with black women’s voices often suppressed and forgotten. Black women within both of these movements voiced their discontent, but they did not break of from the movements entirely.
They recognized the importance for both of the movements, and like the characters of Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo, simultaneously supported the groups while critiquing them, asking for the movements to become better. “African American churchwomen fed, housed, clothed, and prayed for… [but] they also helped organize and lead [their own] movement” (Freedman 84). Shange reminds us that, as supporters who are not given much of a chance to be leaders, Black women deserve just as much praise and recognition as the figureheads of the movements. The voices of those who have passed will not be forgotten, and the voices of those who are fighting now will be
heard.
The history of The Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States is a fascinating account of a group of human beings, forcibly taken from their homeland, brought to a strange new continent, and forced to endure countless inhuman atrocities. Forced into a life of involuntary servitude to white slave owners, African Americans were to face an uphill battle for many years to come. Who would face that battle? To say the fight for black civil rights "was a grassroots movement of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things" would be an understatement. Countless people made it their life's work to see the progression of civil rights in America. People like W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, A Phillip Randolph, Eleanor Roosevelt, and many others contributed to the fight although it would take ordinary people as well to lead the way in the fight for civil rights. This paper will focus on two people whose intelligence and bravery influenced future generations of civil rights organizers and crusaders. Ida B.Wells and Mary Mcleod Bethune were two African American women whose tenacity and influence would define the term "ordinary to extraordinary".
Interstitial politics, defined by Kimberly Springer as a “politics in the cracks” is also a key element in intersectional analysis. As Black feminists it’s our job to locate places of contradiction and conflict, because in working alongside these sites of power and gatekeeping, we can achieve a better knowledge of how they operate as well as develop strategies to dismantle them. This embracing of sociopolitical dissonance embodies the spirit of dialectical practices in Black feminism. In the chapter “Distinguishing Features of Black Feminist Thought” Patricia Hill Collins emphasizes that
Malcolm X stated that the most disrespected, unprotected and neglected person in America is the black woman. Black women have long suffered from racism in American history and also from sexism in the broader aspect of American society and even within the black community; black women are victims of intersection between anti-blackness and misogyny sometimes denoted to as "misogynoir". Often when the civil rights movement is being retold, the black woman is forgotten or reduced to a lesser role within the movement and represented as absent in the struggle, McGuire 's At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power does not make this same mistake.
Throughout history, women’s roles have increased slowly. Not until the second Great Awakening did black women begin to gain roles in Christianity and in society. Between the 19th and 20th century black women used multiple methods to gain authority. Some women preached and gave speeches while other women used nonverbal approaches like writing articles. During this time period everyone wasn’t welcoming to the idea of a woman being consider a leader of any major movement. Black women didn’t always have authority in religious settings, but as time progress women became influenced by Christianity which ultimately pushed them to become leaders even though they knew everyone wouldn’t accept them.
Bryan, Dianetta Gail. Her-Story Unsilenced: Black Female Activists in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 5 of Sage: A Scholarly Journal On Black Women 1988. 60-64.
On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.
... the strength black women have mentally as well as physically. Their involvement in various Women's Groups has also helped to create a better image for black women. Throughout their lives, they have shown that whatever obstacles a good black woman may face, you can never keep her down!
Women, black women in particular, are placed in a society that marginalizes and controls many of the aspects of a black woman’s life. As a result, many black women do not see a source of opportunity, a way to escape the drudgery of their everyday existence. For example, if we were to ask black mother’s if they would change their situation if it became possible for them to do so, many would change, but others would say that it is not possible; This answer would be the result of living in a society that has conditioned black women to accept their lots in life instead of fighting against the system of white and male dominated supremacy. In Ann Petry’s The Street, we are given a view of a black mother who is struggling to escape what the street symbolizes.
The purpose of this investigation is to establish ways in which black women and white women’s involvement in the abolitionist movement influenced the women's movement. The evidence will investigate and identify which events ultimately influenced the women's movement and why the were so influential. Primary and secondary documents will be used and analyzed with respect to their origin, purpose, value and l potential limitations; which will aid in the evaluation of collected evidence. Documents will include books and websites that contain t chronological accounts of important events. Analyzing and summarizing the documents and/or evidence will essentially aid in the formulation of a concluding statement which reveals the ways in which the actions of the women during the time of the civil war influenced the women's’ movement.
Many significant figures in black history have believed in communism as a system holding the potential to alleviate the inequalities that the structure of a largely capitalism-based society has imposed on their people. Amongst those figures is Claudia Jones, an influential black activist during the mid 1900’s. Jones’ faith in socialism extended past its ability to correct longstanding traditions and habits of racial discrimination. She believed, as Angela Davis states in her analysis of the position of women in context of their race and class, “that socialism held the only promise of liberation for Black Women, for Black people as a whole and indeed for the multi-racial working class” (Davis 169). For Jones, socialism held every possibility of fulfilling that promise of equality for all peoples, enabling her to remain “a dedicated Communist” (169) for the entirety of her adult life. Jones’ adherence to Communist tenets contributed to her identity as “the radical black female subject” (Davies 1) whom Carol Boyce Davies deems crucial in the advancement of Marxist-Leninist theory to the “critique of class oppression, imperialist aggression, and gender subordination” (2). Jones saw socialism as a way that could correct all of those issues, but specifically she interested herself in the plight of the working-class black woman and in that of all women. In that light, her understanding of Marx’s socialism must be viewed as distinctly feminist.
According to the text,” Abolitionism arose out of a deep religious conviction that slave-holding was a sin that the truly god-fearing had the obligation to eliminate.” (DuBois, 2012, p. 268). In 1936, Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society implored that each woman in the land must do a Christian woman’s duty, and the result cannot fail to be instant, peaceful, unconditional deliverance. Unlike any other movement seen before, women along with men would join into open conflict with America’s basic political and religious institutions. Sarah and Angelina Grimke rose to the roles as the leaders for the movement. They made many speeches to men and women regarding the issue and even found themselves condemned from the church for their actions. The need for change was growing over the overwhelming feel for abolishment of slavery as well as a role for women. In the 1840s, many leaders seen from the abolitionist movement moved to seek not only freedom from slavery but for the future of women as a whole. The Grimkes defense of their equal right to champion slaves led many women into the women’s rights movement. Female abolitionists faced discrimination within the movement, this then led to the need for a women’s rights movement. Pushback was also seen when women who supported the abolishment for slavery were treated the same as those being prosecuted by white religious women and men who saw their views as incorrect. A change was needed and
In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.
At one of Paul’s demonstrations in DC, they are speaking to women factory workers who are not aware that they should be able to vote for something like having a fire exit in the factory. Gaining the support from working class women was very important to the movement because these women are at the brunt of society’s negative views and are most affected by the societal hardships. Paul’s feminist movement received additional support from Ida B. Wells, an African American women rights activist, as long as they were allowed to march with the white women, not behind them. Although this minute aspect of the movie did not thoroughly discuss the racist issues also present at the time, it made me think about Sojourner Truth’s speech ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ Representation from all races and social classes is imperative in the fight for women’s equality because African American women are women too, color does not matter.
It is not until Celie is an adult that she finally feels content with her life and understands her capacity to be a completely autonomous woman. The concept of racial and gender equality has expanded greatly throughout the twentieth century, both in society and in literature. These changes influence Walker's writing, allowing her to create a novel that chronicles the development of a discriminated black woman. Her main character, Celie, progresses from oppression to self-sufficiency, thereby symbolizing the racial and gender advancements our country has achieved.
Standley, Anne. "The Role of Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement." Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Trailblazers and Torchbearers, 1941-1965. By Vicki L. Crawford, Jacqueline Anne. Rouse, and Barbara Woods. Brooklyn, NY: Carlson Pub., 1990. 183-202. Print.