Combahee River Collective facts for kids

The Combahee River Collective (/kəmˈbiː/ KƏM-bee) was a Black feminist lesbian socialist organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980. The Collective argued that both the white feminist movement and the Civil Rights Movement were not addressing their particular needs as Black women and, more specifically, as Black lesbians. The Collective are perhaps best known for developing the Combahee River Collective Statement, a key document in the history of contemporary Black feminism and the development of the concepts of identity politics.

National Black Feminist Organization

Author Barbara Smith and other delegates attending the first (1973) regional meeting of the National Black Feminist Organization in New York City provided the groundwork for the Combahee River Collective with their efforts to build an NBFO Chapter in Boston. The NBFO was formed by Black feminists reacting to the failure of mainstream White feminist groups to respond to the racism that Black women faced in the United States.

Naming

The Collective's name was suggested by Smith, who owned a book called: Harriet Tubman, Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Earl Conrad. She "wanted to name the collective after a historical event that was meaningful to African American women." Smith noted: "It was a way of talking about ourselves being on a continuum of Black struggle, of Black women's struggle." The name commemorated an action at the Combahee River planned and led by Harriet Tubman on June 2, 1863, in the Port Royal region of South Carolina. The action freed more than 750 slaves and is the only military campaign in American history planned and led by a woman.

Combahee River Collective Statement

The Combahee River Collective Statement was separated into four separate chapters: The Genesis of Contemporary Black Feminism; What We Believe; Problems in Organizing Black Feminists; and Black Feminist Issues and Projects.

Genesis of Contemporary Black Feminism

The Genesis of Contemporary Black Feminism chapter of the CRC statement traces the origin and trajectory of Black feminism. This chapter serves to situate the CRC within the larger Black feminist movement. The CRC presented themselves as rooted in the historical activism of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frances E. W. Harper, Ida B. Wells Barnett, and Mary Church Terrell. The CRC framed contemporary Black feminism as a genesis built upon the work of these activists. The Black feminist presence in the larger second wave American feminist movement resulted in the formation of separate Black feminist groups such as the National Black Feminist Organization as the needs of Black feminists were not being met by mainstream organizations. The CRC also stated that it was the involvement of Black feminists in the Black Liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s which impacted CRC members' ideologies and led to disillusionment with those movements.

This chapter also introduced the CRC's belief that the oppression that Black women endured was rooted in interlocking oppressions. As Black women, the Collective argued that they experience oppression based on race, gender, and class.

What We Believe

The What We Believe chapter of the CRC statement detailed their definition of Identity Politics and how it functions. What the CRC believed by the term Identity Politics, is that Black women had a right to formulate their own agenda based upon the material conditions they faced as a result of race, class, and gender.

We realize that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our liberation are us. Our politics evolve from a healthy love for ourselves, our sisters and our community which allows us to continue our struggle and work.

This chapter also details the CRC's belief that the destruction of capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy is necessary for the liberation of oppressed peoples. The CRC identified as socialists and believed that work must be organized for the collective benefit of all people, not for the benefit of profit. To this end, the CRC was in agreement with Marx's theory as it was applied to the material economic relationships he analyzed. The CRC did not advocate for lesbian separatism as they felt it left out others who were valuable to the movement.

It is well described how Black women at one point in time were almost sidelined from the women's movement which began to pick up. On the other hand, they also seemed to be left out of the Black movement, probably due to their genders. The main focus is around the idea that it is impossible to separate race, sex, and class because they are all the fundamental basis of the life of a black woman one, and to recognize that “black women are inherently valuable” [Combahee River Collective, Pg. 503]

The Combahee River Collective notes that black women are frequently looked down upon and that many individuals have a misconception that black women simply want greater power. However, black women, regardless of status or ethnicity, simply want to be included and treated properly. Black feminists all shared the idea that all black women are intrinsically important, that their independence is necessary, and that they must share equal value and recognition with others. Ultimately, the entire purpose of the important anti-discrimination movement is inclusion rather than differentiation or exclusion, and it the only way through which black women can effectively tackle oppression and destroy it from its core. It is an extremely a difficult journey for black women, despite their desires being relatively simple – all they wish for is to be accepted and included. Black women don’t want any special rights, all they wish for is to be accepted and acknowledged at the same level as all other humans and citizens of society.

Problems in Organizing Black Feminists

The Problems in Organizing Black Feminists chapter traced the problems and failures surrounding organizing around Black feminism. The CRC believed that the fact that they were fighting to end multiple forms of oppression simultaneously rather than just one form of oppression was a major source of difficulty. The CRC also believed that because of their position as Black lesbian women, they did not have access to racial, heterosexual, or class privilege to rely on.

The CRC also believed that they experienced the psychological toll of their fight differently because of the "low value placed upon Black women's psyches in this society." In this view, the members of the CRC saw themselves as being at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Because of this positioning, the CRC wrote that, "if Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression." Their belief in this statement also relies on their previous contention that the liberation of all peoples will be delivered with the destruction of capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy.

The CRC's focus on the liberation of Black women also led to negative reactions of Black men. The CRC believed that because of this focus, Black men felt that "they might also be forced to change their habitually sexist ways of interacting with and oppressing Black women." This reaction of Black men also proved problematic in organizing Black feminists.

Black Feminist Projects and Issues

The final chapter of the CRC statement, Black Feminist Projects and Issues demonstrated that they were committed to making the lives of all women, third world, and working people better. The CRC stated, "We are of course particularly committed to working on those struggles in which race, sex, and class are simultaneous factors in oppression." The chapter details how this may look in many types of application around the world.

This chapter also detailed how the CRC had started to publicly address the racism inherent in the white women's movement. The CRC believed that white women involved in the feminist movement had made little effort to combat or understand their own racism. Moreover, the CRC believed that these women must have "a more than superficial comprehension of race, color, and Black history and culture. While the CRC acknowledged that this work was the responsibility of white women, they would work by demanding accountability of these white women toward this end.

Impact

The Combahee River Collective Statement is referred to as "among the most compelling documents produced by Black feminists".

While the CRC did not coin the term intersectionality, it was the first to acknowledge interlocking systems of oppression which work together reinforcing each other. The Collective developed a multidimensional analysis recognizing a "simultaneity of oppressions"; refusing to rank oppressions based on race, class and gender.

Importance of Black women's liberation

The CRC emphasized a fundamental and shared belief that "Black women are inherently valuable, that...(their) liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because of (their own) need as human persons for autonomy...." and expressed a particularly commitment to "working on those struggles in which race, sex, and class are simultaneous factors in oppression...." The CRC sought to "build a politics that will change our lives and inevitably end our oppression."

The importance of Black feminism

Black feminism is a feminist movement that focuses on black women and their rights. Black feminism is described as, "Black women are inherently valuable, that [Black women's] liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy,".

Often times, when the feminist movement is fighting for rights and to be seen, it focuses purely on white, upper-class women and does not include different races, ethnicities, socioeconomic statues, etc. So, when feminist groups are fighting for better treatment, they are fighting for the better treatment of white women

The Black feminist movement is important because it addresses the mistreatment and discrimination that black woman face because they are both black and women. They are not only being discriminated against because they are black or women, but the combination of the two. They have a completely unique experience from anyone else and any other feminist movement will not address their unique problems. The Black feminist movement is also majorly important because it gives black women support and a group that if fighting for them directly. In the past black feminists played a major role in the civil rights movement and in more recent year in the activist movement Black Lives Matter. Although these movements make great strives for black people, unfortunately, the problems of black women can often get left behind. For that reason, the black feminist movement is equally important and should be viewed in that way.

End

The Collective held their last network retreat in February 1980, and disbanded some time that year.

Collective members and participants

The Combahee Collective was large and fluid throughout its history. Collective members and contributors include:

See also

In Spanish: Combahee River Collective para niños