Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment

Chapter 1 describes the need for Black feminist thought. Drawing on diverse sources, including the abolitionist Maria Stewart (d. 1879), Collins argues that dominant groups have sought to maintain their dominance in part by deliberately suppressing Black women’s knowledge. The oppression of Black women in the US began with slavery, which exploited Black labor and systematically deprived Black people of political power. Racist and sexist ideologies naturalized the oppression of Black women in this period, presenting them as mammies and Jezebels. Negative stereotypes of Black women persist, as evidenced by ubiquitous images of Aunt Jemimas, Black sex workers, welfare mothers, and other stereotypes. These stereotypes undermine Black women, erase Black women intellectuals, and thus protect white male worldviews. Although Black women thinkers have long existed, they have historically been excluded from leadership positions in universities, professional associations, and other institutions that valorize knowledge. Women’s studies programs challenged the hegemony of elite white men and amplified white women’s voices, but largely ignored those of Black women. White feminists often resisted having Black women colleagues, paying lip service to diversity while suppressing Black women’s ideas. These habits impacted feminist theory. Despite efforts to develop a diverse racial feminism, racial divisions persist.