Black women Facts for Kids

Black women are women from sub-Saharan Africa and those of African heritage living in other parts of the world. This also includes women of Australian Aboriginal and Melanesian descent. The word 'Black' describes a group of people, and its meaning has changed over time and in different places. So, 'Black women' refers to many different cultural groups around the world.

Being a Black woman can sometimes feel like facing a "double challenge." This is because Black women can experience unfair treatment both for being female and for being part of the Black community.

Understanding Double Challenges: Intersectionality and Misogynoir
Black Women Around the World
Famous Black Women Leaders
See also

Understanding Double Challenges: Intersectionality and Misogynoir

Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw created a powerful idea called Intersectionality. This idea helps us understand how different parts of a person's identity, like their race and gender, can combine to create unique challenges. For Black women in the United States, this means they can face unfair treatment because they are both Black and women.

This idea has been very important in understanding how different social groups face unfair systems. More recently, a special word, misogynoir, was made to describe the specific challenges Black women face. Misogynoir combines the words misogyny (hatred of women) and racism (hatred based on race). These terms were created because Black women were often left out of movements for racial fairness and also from some feminist movements. Black women often face the most discrimination because they are part of two minority groups: they are Black and they are women.

Black Women Around the World

Africa

The Maputo Protocol is an important agreement from 2003 that sets standards for women's rights in Africa. It gives women many rights, including the right to be involved in politics. It also ensures social fairness with men and more control over their health decisions.

Ghana

Women in Ghana play a role in the country's main political parties. In 1959, Ghana was the first African country to set aside 10 seats in Parliament just for women. This was done by the first president, Kwame Nkrumah. However, in recent years, the number of women in Parliament has been lower. After the 2012 election, about 11% of members were women, and after the 2016 election, it was 13%.

Tunisia

In Tunisia, Black women often face unfair treatment for two reasons: their gender and their race.

Some people have said that the women's rights movement in Arab countries, including Tunisia, has not focused enough on the issues faced by non-Arab women. This is similar to how some have criticized White feminism. In 2020, four Black Tunisian women started a Facebook group called "Voices of Tunisian Black Women." They created this group to bring attention to the challenges they face.

Caribbean

In the colonial Caribbean, during the time of plantations, women of color were often treated as property. This was especially true for White men who owned plantations. In French islands, people's race and gender often decided if they could own land. However, there were sometimes legal ways for women of color to become landowners.

United States

Slavery in America

During the time of slavery in America, Black people were forced to work without pay. Black women who were enslaved were often treated very unfairly by their owners and other White people. They were forced to have children, who would also become slaves. This harsh treatment of Black female slaves also happened in Brazil, Central America, Mexico, Peru, and the Caribbean.

Health Challenges

Black women often face higher risks for certain health problems compared to White women. They also have a higher chance of dying from these conditions. For example, the American Cancer Society says that the death rate for all cancers is 14% higher for Black women than for White women. While about one in three Black women might get cancer, about one in five will die from it.

Cancer is not the only health issue that affects Black women more. Lupus is a disease that is two to three times more common in women of color. Specifically, about one in every 537 Black women will have lupus. Black women also have a higher chance of being overweight, which can lead to more health problems related to obesity.

There is also a big difference in deaths related to pregnancy. For every 100,000 births, about 12.4 White women die. But for Black women, this number is much higher, at 40.0 deaths for every 100,000 births. A study in 2007 found that Black women were two to three times more likely to die from common pregnancy complications than White women with the same conditions. The World Health Organization estimated in 2014 that Black mothers in the United States die at a similar rate to women in countries like Mexico.

Studies have shown that the health of African-American women has been negatively affected by experiences of racism. This includes unfair healthcare practices that have occurred from the time of slavery through today. Another study in 2018 found that medical textbooks often do not show enough images of darker skin tones. This lack of representation might lead to unfair medical treatment.

Brazil

Black women make up 28% of the population in Brazil. Even today, they still face unfair treatment. The lasting effects of slavery and the mistreatment of Black women during the Portuguese colonial era are still felt in Brazil.

Famous Black Women Leaders

Many important artistic and political leaders throughout history have been Black women. For example, Queen Qalhata and Candace of Meroe were powerful early African queens.

So far, 21 Black women have been chosen or elected to lead a country recognized by the UN. All of these leaders have been in Africa or the Caribbean. The first Black woman to become a head of state was Elisabeth Domitien. She served as the Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from January 1975 to April 1976. The Black woman who served as a head of government for the longest time was Eugenia Charles. She led Dominica for almost 15 years, from July 1980 to June 1995. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was President of Liberia for 12 years.

In 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first Black woman to lead a major international organization. She was appointed Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

Four Black women have won Nobel Prizes. Toni Morrison was the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize. She received the prize for literature in 1993. Wangari Maathai was the first Black woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.

In the United States, Toni Morrison was the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize. Shirley Chisholm was an important Democratic candidate for U.S. President in the 1970s. In the 2020 United States presidential election, Kamala Harris became Joe Biden's running mate. This made her the first Black woman to be on a major party's presidential ticket. Biden won the election, and Harris became the first Black person and Black woman to be Vice President of the United States. When Justice Stephen Breyer decided to retire, President Joe Biden chose Ketanji Brown Jackson to take his place on the Supreme Court. She was approved by the United States Senate on April 7, 2022, and started her role on June 30, 2022.

Black women facts for kids

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