Abolitionist Movements: A Black Feminist History
At an event held in honour of Malcolm X in 1982, Audre Lorde delivered an address titled “Learning from the 60s”, during which she says, “Revolution is not a one-time event. It is becoming always vigilant for the smallest opportunity to make a genuine change in established, outgrown responses; for instance, it is learning to address each other’s differences with respect.” ( Lorde, 1982 ) Through this Lorde tells us that revolution is a never ending circle, it’s multi-layered, multi-faceted and belongs to everyone and no one simultaneously. The abolitionist movement is one of these revolutionary topics, the most obvious definition of this movement was the social reform effort to end chattel slavery in western europe and the americas. This word and its connotation however have evolved and in the current social and political climate, abolition has become a movement to end all forms of violence and exploitation. This modern term developed specifically through black feminist work and tradition relies on imagination as a means of survival, it is a critical way of thinking that envisions a world where social causes of crime can be solved by social solutions. Abolitionist work has been the backbone of all social movements throughout history, particulary throughout american slavery, modern prison systems and police enforcement. This movement, primarily done by grassroots feminist organizations has been led and influenced by black women both in practice and in theory.
Invisibility is a fundamental aspect of being a black woman in a white patriarchal capitalist society. The black female body is often exploited, yet the experiences and challenges of the human being itself are overlooked. Patricia Collins explores the ‘why’ behind this idea in Black feminist Thought, as she explains the “genderlessness” of the black woman as it dates back to slavery and the dehumanization that comes with being genderless. It comes to no surprise that this dehumanization would reflect in past and ongoing political movements that have changed and shaped the way American society functions. - Since the black female identity is at the very intersection of race, gender, and class, Fannie Lou Hammer’s “I work for the liberation of all people, because when I liberate myself, I'm liberating other people” rings very true. And while black women work for the liberation of all, Patricia Collins reminds us that “Black women have participated formally in feminist movements for decades and have long fought for gender and racial justice in the U.S.; however, acknowledgment and validation of their participation went largely ignored” (Collins, 1990). Within the context of social and political movements, the cloak of invisibility thrown upon black women is so strong that there’s a researched term for it. In “African-American Women in the Civil Rights Movement - Gender, Leadership, and Micromobilization”, Belinda Robnett explores the role of “bridge leaders”. According to Robnett ‘bridge leaders’ are the informal leaders in micromobilization movements, a kind of leadership that within whichever organization, has personal power but not any official power. “This top down analyses of political participation necessarily exclude women and ignore their significant contribution” (Robnett, 1665). From this we can understand that gender has always been a strong and ‘valid’ category for excluding black women from formal leadership and until the invisibility of being a black woman in a white patriarchal society is completely changed black women along with their identity and work will always be overlooked.
The earliest definition of the fight for abolition has been that of slavery. Popular knowledge teaches us that this fight was spearheaded by white social reformers both men and women who were moral enough to push for the end of slavery. From the names of Benjamin Franklin to Elizabeth Chandler as well as various black men the likes of Fredrick Douglas and the Langston brothers we are bombarded with information of those who were critical to the movement and left with very little information about the black women involved. Though the names of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman definitely ring a bell, many other black women played a role in the movement, however most of these efforts have been largely glossed over in recorded history. Despite the lack of Sojourner Truth’s formal education she was a well known and respected public orator for the abolitionist cause.“I cannot read a book, but I can read the people.” (Truth, 1) Truth used her everyday experience to dissect social issues through relatable stories, her most famous speech being “Ain’t I a Woman” which reads - “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? — I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman?” (Truth,1) In this speech again we see the meta recurring theme of abolition and invisibility, Meta because Truth, while fighting for the freedom of her race, still has to fight to be seen as woman enough to be in this fight.
Harriet Tubman is definitely a house hould name when it comes to slave abolitionists. Though not a lecturer like Sojourner Truth, her actions make her a pioneering activist within the movement. Working with other abolitionists as part of the underground railway as well as other antislavery efforts; including supporting John Brown in an 1859 raid on the Harpers Ferry, Virginia, becoming a guerilla operative nurse and supporting the quest for women’s suffrage. These two women are only scraping the surface of black women who made slave abolition a success, in a time where women black women specifically couldn’t have a mere voice, these women and many others dared to speak and act out an they should be remembered.
Though not coined an “abolitionist movement” the civil rights movement is an important aspect of modern Black American history and it would be a disservice to overlook the work done as it sets a precedent for abolitionist work currently done today. The work, speeches, actions and more of black women are also the foundation for our current movements. Kathleen Cleaver reminds us that “The perceptions that motivated the radical feminists, Third World feminists, and progressive women devoted to ending racial oppression have become peripheral among leading feminist authors.” (Cleaver,2) she also mentions that “This silence, which seems especially paradoxical to me in light of the crucial role women played in the modern civil rights movement, demonstrates how profound efforts at collective transformation can remain trapped within deeply entrenched boundaries. For in many ways, the Southern-based struggle to end segregation during the 1950s and 1960s, which can be seen as a human rights movement, a struggle for community empowerment, or a collective effort to expand democracy, was a women's movement. If it weren't for black women, there would have been no Montgomery Bus Boycott, few voting rights campaigns, far less marvelous educational impact -in short, the civil rights movement as we know it could not have occurred.” (Cleaver, 3). Returning back to the term of “bridge leaders” coined by Belinda Robnett, it’s interesting to note that in a movement that could not have been achieved without black women the limitations of gender subjected them to still allows them to hold second place in a movement more or less created and innovated by them.
Joy James was right when she mentioned that “One can easily imagine antiracist revolutionary struggle against the state without (black) women clearly in the picture, but to imagine revolution against state violence in the absence of (black) men often draws a blank. Men appear independent of women in revolutionary struggles; women generally appear as revolutionaries only in association with men, often as “helpmates.” As a category, the female revolutionary remains somewhat of an afterthought, an aberration; hence she is an abstraction— vague and not clearly in the picture.”( James, 2) Along with the previous two women mentioned above, Assata Shakur is one of the few, well known black women that publicly advocated against state sanctioned racial violence. A member of the Black Panther Party she held seemingly radical views including self armed defense and communist ideals. Assata’s identity is unique in her relation to masculinity and femininity which might be the reason, amongst many other things for her popularity. Unlike other Panther women, who were linked to their fellow male activists, Assata stands alone as a black militant without the romanticized gaze often imposed on other women in the movement.
In her essay “Women in Prison: How it is With Us,” Shakur reflected on the experiences of herself and other Black female prisoners “There are no criminals here at Rikers Island Correctional Institution for Women, only victims. Most of the women (over 95%) are black and Puerto Rican. Many were abused children. Most have been abused by men and all have been abused by the system.” (Shakur, 3) Throughout the essay Shakur highlights the US Prison industrial complex and its various failings. Prison abolition is a modern day movement that seeks to eliminate the prison system and replace it with forms of rehabilitation that do not mimic or place a focus on carceral forms of punishment. Led by activists, organizers and theorists the likes of Angela Davis, Ruth Gilmore and Mariame Kaba; these women place the experiences and persecution of black women at the center of the much overlooked discussion of mass incarceration and state sanctioned oppression. Much of their work also covers the criminal justice system as a means to an economic end as well as the prison system as an extension of the slavery system which though “abolished” has morphed into something much worse. Ruth Gilmore implores us to explore prison abolition as a utopia “in the sense that it’s looking forward to a world in which prisons are not necessary because not only are the political-economic motives behind mass incarceration gone, but also the instances in which people might harm each other are minimized because the causes for that harm (setting aside, for the moment, psychopaths) are minimized as well.” (Gilmore, 53). Mariame Kaba who is also a very vocal leader in the police abolition work is the founder of Project NIA, an organization working to end youth incarceration as well as various other abolitionist campaigns. All of these women’s work, whether theoretical or organizational, are pushing forth the need for a better future while being able to recognize the importance of their identity and how it relates to the work they’re doing.
The prison abolition movement ties very intrinsically to the police abolition movement, so in turn a lot of the works and people pushing for one tend to push for the other. Ruth Gilmore writes , “Abolition is about presence, not absence, It’s about building life-affirming institutions.”(Gilmore,). This is also the same idea Beth E Richie and Angela Davis discuss in their book Abolition. Feminism. Now. The idea of abolition as a practice, pushed by feminist, queer, grassroots organizers, primarily Black women deserving of recognition. This view is particularly unique because as mentioned previously in this paper it is an intersectional view unique to those who suffer the most at the hand of these systems. Anti carceral feminism is vital becasue it illuminates just how much prison and policing affect, from family policing to state violence, it reminds us that we cannot tackle one problem after the other but all of them at large because just like the problems are our identities are vast and wide. From Abolition is a Feminist Project we learn that “women often spend more time in jails because their incomes are lower on average, such that making bail is a bigger hurdle. Women languishing in jail often experience high levels of psychological distress, as underlying mental health issues are often exacerbated by separation, deprivation and confinement. Many women behind bars were victims of prolonged sexual and physical trauma prior to incarceration, then face more gender-based violence inside the prisons. These issues are further exacerbated for LGBTQ* people. While approximately 10% of incarnated men fall under this umbrella, nearly one third of incarcerated women identify as one or more of these categories.” (Amato,1) With a black feminist lens on prison and police abolition we are able to approach these problems and much more with viable responses as proposed by various black women in the movement.
Black women activism in all forms; organizing, theorizing, speeches etc is crucial to social justice movements in the United States in particular and especially within the context of abolition as has been highlighted above. But while black women are fundamental in doing the work, it is also a must for them to be recognized for the work they do. “As long as social justice remains elusive for African-American women, it is likely to evade U.S. society overall. Therefore, the need for Black women’s activism most likely will persist. But while the dialectical relationship linking oppression and activism remains, the changing organization of intersecting oppressions as well as the contours of activism required for resistance demand a dynamic Black women’s activism and an equally vigorous U.S. Black feminism.” (Collins, 30) Along with the hidden history of black women activism is the history of men and white women co-opting their ideologies and works. To be viewed as genderless and invisble throughout history has dimmed the light on the work that black women do, and when they are seen it is never as women with the complicated identity thrown on them by society. “How we imagine a revolutionary is shaped by our ideas concerning gender, sex, and race, not just ideology. How we imagine transformative black political leadership is very much influenced by how we think of gender and agency. The absence or presence of maleness shapes common perceptions of women revolutionaries. The same is not true for femaleness in perceptions of male revolutionaries.”(James, 1)
While the examples above do not begin to cover the surface of black women who have done the work within abolitionist movements, the hope is to shed a light and introduce a space for conversation that recognizes more black feminists and their work.
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Works Cited
Robnett, Belinda. “African-American Women in the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965: Gender, Leadership, and Micromobilization.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 101, no. 6, University of Chicago Press, 1996, pp. 1661–93, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2782115.
“Sojourner Truth - Www.Legacyproject.Org.” -, 0000, www.legacyproject.org/activities/clubtruth.html.
Cleaver, Kathleen. Racism, Civil Rights and Feminism, Excerpted from Critical Race Feminism: A Reader. New York: New York UP, 2003. Black Thought and Culture Database. Web.
BlackPast. “(1982) Audre Lorde, ‘Learning from the 60s’ •.” (1982) Audre Lorde, "Learning from the 60s" •, 24 Sept. 2019, www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1982-audre-lorde-learning-60s/.
Want to Start a Revolution? : Radical Women in the Black Freedom Struggle, edited by Jeanne Theoharis, et al., New York University Press, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ccny-ebooks/detail.action?docID=865487.
Created from ccny-ebooks on 2021-12-13 20:53:05.
“Women in Prison: How It Is With Us by Assata Shakur.” Assata Shakur, 0000, www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/shakurwip.html.
Amato, Nicole. “Abolition Is a Feminist Project.” Clas.Uiowa.Edu, 2018, clas.uiowa.edu/gwss/sites/clas.uiowa.edu.gwss/files/Abolition%20Feminism%20Invitation_Cited_7-22-2020.pdf.
Beyond Walls and Cages : Prisons, Borders, and Global Crisis, University of Georgia Press, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ccny-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1222485.
Created from ccny-ebooks on 2021-12-13 22:05:19.