The Black Feminist Movement

The black feminist movement was a political and social protest which grew out of discontent with both the civil rights movement and the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Black feminism had derived from the woman’s movement, however entailed that african american women face a greater extent of oppression due to mixed factors such as sexism, classism, and racism which render them inferior to middle class white women and complicate their social conditions. During this time, African American female writers were vital components in the fight for gender equality by documenting their endeavors at overcoming racism and sexism as they sought to identify with other black women through common culture and a shared struggle for justice. In commemorating

Defining poetry as "illumination," Lorde argues that, "The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives. It is within this light that we form those ideas by which we pursue our magic and make it realized" (Sister Outsider, 36). In regards to the article “"The Magic and Fury of Audre Lorde”, Angelique V. Nixon describes Audre Lorde in the context of American society as having a “language which effectively expresses how the oppressive system works on a political and personal level”; it is both brave and evocative. For Lorde, poetry is a way to reshape scrutiny to fuel personal and social transformation. Lorde's theory about engaging the self as a way to initiate social transformation was an essential part to the black feminist movement which placed new emphasis on connections between self and collective development. Before the movement, American literature lacked diversity, and the ability for racial and ethnic minorities to express ideas from their point of

And I am not free as long as one person of Color remains chained. Nor is any one of you” (Sister Outsider, 132-33) - extending her invitation for social revolution to all minorities and all sympathizers of social movements. Audre’s words also encompass the idea that although black women each have their individual stories over struggle, they also share a collective detestation over black inferiority. This detestation serves to ignite mobility in which african american women no longer allow themselves to become subject to a discriminatory way of life. In The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism, Lorde argues that her anger is a response to racist attitudes and to the actions that arise out of those attitudes; As opposed to resorting to fear, Audre uses anger as a way of personal growth to serve her community and broaden her understanding of the misfortunes forced upon disenfranchised individuals such as people of color, gays, the handicapped, etc. Fear and defensiveness serve no one’s futures, rather, Lorde encourages both woman of color and white women to harness their arsenals of anger as a source of power against personal and institutional abuses, which brought their anger into being. Focused with precision, female emotions and intensity will create change which solves the roots of social tyranny that has plagued the