Janee Snyder
Journal #2
Abigail Heiniger
GSW 5200
Are We Every Women?
The Combahee River Collective Statement “A Black Feminist Statement”, is a
taste of black feminist women’s “sorority”. Although this coalition of black feminist and
lesbians having been meeting since 1972, their mission is still the same, to empower
women of all ethnicities, and to deplete the entity that has created the objectification and
ostracizing nature of women in politics. This collective gathering of black feminist and
lesbian women take a direction of liberation and survival against their white male
counterparts and the “fractionalization of white women who are separatists. These
women are striving for equal opportunities as humans, and to be recognized as human.
This persistent longing for the recognition of freedom from external influence or
autonomy is the striving for behind their movement. These women are looking to strip
slanderous stereotypes from the grips of the external force driving it (white male
reformist, separatist females, etc). These women argue that African American women
needed to develop some organizational self-sovereignty in order to develop a concise
interpretation of the particular forms of slanderous stereotypes that they faced as create a
collective itinerary for change.
Although, the argument of these women seems to be a “move in the right direction”, it
tends be a detriment to progressive politics. The women of the Combahee River
Collective are looking for a self-independent political realm where progressive black
feminist and lesbians are a separate entity instead of a cohesive additive to politics. This
independence is counterproductive in that it is defining ones identity by their political
self.
Janee Snyder
Journal #2
Abigail Heiniger
GSW 5200
As these women further explain “What We [They] Believe” in, they are
propelling themselves backwards instead of forward to a common goal. They first and
foremost are focusing on their own oppression rather than fighting oppression across
many aspects of politics. They place themselves on a pedestal of the almighty force that
should be solely focused on. Although they contradict this claim by saying that they
“reject pedestals, queenhood, and walking ten paces behind”. This is the complete
opposite of what Elizabeth Martinez states in “La Chicana”. Martinez, bel
Also, with the statement that they feel that need to be an autonomist realm of
politics, and they identify separate movements of women-a white women’s movement
and a Black women’s movement-they are claiming feminism for themselves. Here is
where the contradiction of them not wanted to put themselves on a pedestal, is when we
look at the definition of feminism, feminism is defined as the “political analysis and
practice that we women use to struggle against OUR oppression”. “Our” is the keyword
in this definition of feminism because the women who wrote Combahee River Collective
Statement. Black feminism however, is solely based on a specific history of black
women. The women where committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual,
class, and economic oppression that black women faced. Moreover, they ultimately put
themselves, black feminism over white feminism. They did not see themselves as
diminishing the needs and wants of other cultures or races of women, but they saw
themselves as an every man. This is the complete opposite of what Elizabeth Martinez is
arguing in “La Chicana”. Martinez, argued that feminism should have a common goal
amongst all races and cultures. Cultural difference and global position should not affect
ones level of importance. Structures of inequality impact every race, creed, and/or
Janee Snyder
Journal #2
Abigail Heiniger
GSW 5200
culture., and in order to have a chance in rectifying any social inequalities we must first
come together as a whole and not as separate entities. As we can see now, the black
feminist are extremely contradictory in the fact that the black feminist who wrote the
Combahee River Collective Statement define themselves as an every man to women, yet
they separate their struggles from that of other cultures and races of women.
This confusion they tried to settle as they begin to see their task as the way in
which oppression interlocks amongst races, sexes and cultures, but they continue to
contradict themselves by placing themselves in different categories from the white male
reformist, separatist females, and the black men. They yet again place themselves in a
separate political hierarchy categories in terms of importance. This is where Martinez
comes back into play with her belief that feminist advocating should be a joint venture
between all women of race, creed, and culture.
Although the Combahee River Collective Statement presumably had a “good”
foreground for their political views, they seemed far from progressive. The women
continuously seemed to place themselves on the top of the chain of command of politics.
They felt that their needs were far more superior then any other political movement to
date. In order for this statement to be seemingly productive to the feminist movement it
would have to encompass the well being of the collective woman.
Janee Snyder
Journal #2
Abigail Heiniger
GSW 5200
Work Cited
Combahee River Collective. A Black Feminist Statement. Feminist Theory Reader: Local
and Global Perspectives. New York: Routledge, 2013. 116-122. Ebook.
Martinez, Elizabeth. La Chicana. Feminist Theory Reader : Local and Global
Perspectives. New York: Routledge, 2013. 113-115. Ebook.