Black Feminist Thought

Black feminism has existed since the early 1800s and can be recognized as early as in Sojourner Truth’s Ain’t I a Woman speech, delivered at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, OH. Black feminism allows for Black women to be more self-critical and self-reflective and has paved the way for new movements specifically centered around Black women such as Womanism and Black internationalist feminism.

It was not until the 1970s and 1980s that Black feminism was recognized by U.S. scholars in the humanities and social sciences. However, Black British feminism was acknowledged because of the lack of visibility of Black women in traditional feminist theory during the 1970s, though it has roots from as early as the 1940s. Black feminism exists because of the invisibility ...