Black Feminist Movement

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the early black rap music and the literature of African-American women such as Maya Angelou that sheds light on the sacrifices and plight of the black woman since emancipation. The paper attempts to determine the feminist movement's gains, if any, since the 1970s. The paper discusses the heightened awareness of the problems surrounding the absent father in black families and the rejection of black women by black men. The paper concludes that voices need to be heard, but we need contemporary figures to emerge as role models and effectors of change in bringing about a new opportunity for black mothers and their children.

From the Paper:

"While the feminist movement in the mid to late 19th century helped women gain certain milestones in women's rights, the movement largely left behind black women. Emerging from historical slavery, the American black woman had a double whammy dealt her; she was a woman, and she was black. A black woman experienced discrimination on both fronts, but add to this, too, a third front; she was discriminated against by her own race, by black men. It is only in recent time, since the 1970s that black feminism has experienced a compelling kind of progress that has given black women a momentum with which to break free of the chains of historical slavery, the binding restrictions of gender, and, more recently, the slave mentality with which they were perceived by black men within their communities. It was the latter that has perhaps been the most difficult for black women to move past, and the civil rights movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s helped progress black women to the point where, today, they have finally begun to experience physical, social and political freedoms by which to prosper."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bradshaw, Jonathan, Carol Stimson, Christine Skinner, and Julie Williams. Absent Fathers?. London: Routledge, 1999. Questia. 26 July 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102845491>.
• Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought : Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment /. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2000. Questia. 26 July 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102240878>.
• Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. New York: Routledge, 2004. Questia. 26 July 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108755350>.
• Evans, Sara M., ed. Journeys That Opened Up the World: Women, Student Christian Movements, and Social Justice, 1955-1975. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003. Questia. 26 July 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=103154977>.
• Lupton, Mary Jane. Maya Angelou A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. Questia. 26 July 2008 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9778938>.

More papers on Black Feminist Movement:

• Analytical Essay # 119888 : "Black Women in the Rap Music and Hip Hop Cultures"
• Argumentative Essay # 75762 : "Black Feminism"
• Term Paper # 120666 : "Black Feminism"

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