National Black Feminist Organization facts for kids

The National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) was a group started in 1973. It was created to help Black women in America with the special challenges they faced. Some of the people who helped start it were Florynce Kennedy, Michele Wallace, Faith Ringgold, Doris Wright, and Margaret Sloan-Hunter. They even used the office of another group, the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women. According to Michele Wallace, who wrote for an important book about Black women's studies, Doris Wright called the first meeting. This meeting was to talk about Black women and their connection to the Feminist Movement.

History of the NBFO

The National Black Feminist Organization was one of the first groups formed in the Black feminist movement. Its goals were very similar to those in the Combahee River Collective Statement, which was being written around the same time by some of the same women. In 1973, the NBFO's Statement of Purpose said the group was formed "to address ourselves to the particular and specific needs of the larger, but almost cast-aside half of the black race in America, the black woman." This meant they wanted to focus on the unique issues faced by Black women.

Many members of the NBFO, like Florynce Kennedy, came from the civil rights/Black Power movement and the feminist movement. However, many of these women felt they weren't fully accepted in either group. They felt that some white women in the feminist movement had unfair ideas about race. They also felt that their leadership was often ignored or challenged in the civil rights movement. Women were sometimes expected to take on less important tasks. People who faced discrimination because of who they loved also felt unwelcome in both movements.

Brenda Eichelberger, who helped start the Chicago chapter, once said, "...I didn't know any other black woman felt the way that I did about feminism. I knew white women who were my friends, but they didn't have the added oppression of race. A lot of black groups were macho. I couldn't completely identify with any group. Anyway, all I need to know was that one woman anywhere who felt like I did..." This shows how important it was for Black women to find a group where they truly belonged.

The NBFO focused on how different types of unfairness were connected for African-American women. These included racism (unfairness based on race), sexism (unfairness based on gender), and classism (unfairness based on social class). The women chose Margaret Sloan-Hunter as their leader. She was one of the first editors of Ms. Magazine and worked with Gloria Steinem. In 1974, the group was featured on the Ms. Magazine TV show, Woman Alive!. They talked about their first big meeting. After that, they started new chapters in several U.S. cities, including Chicago and New York.

Important Events and Changes

First Conference: A Big Step

From November 30 to December 2, 1973, about 400 women attended the first regional conference of the NBFO in New York City. This meeting was very important because ten new chapters of the organization were started there. These new chapters helped the NBFO grow and spread across other parts of the United States, making it a more successful group.

Boston Chapter Forms New Group

In 1974, the Boston chapter of the NBFO decided to form its own group called the Combahee River Collective. They wanted to work in a smaller group to better address specific issues, such as economic development. In their 1977 statement, the Combahee River Collective explained that they had "serious disagreements with NBFO's bourgeois-feminist stance and their lack of a clear political focus." This means they felt the NBFO was too focused on certain ideas and needed a clearer political direction.

What Happened Next

The National Black Feminist Organization stopped working as a national group in 1975. The last local chapter closed in 1980. In her book Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967-1975, writer Alice Echols quotes E. Frances White. White suggested that the NBFO ended because it couldn't agree on what a Black feminist approach should be.

After the NBFO stopped operating in 1975, Brenda Eichelberger continued her work. She started a new group called the National Alliance of Black Feminists in 1976, building on the work of the Chicago chapter of the NBFO. This new organization aimed to achieve full equality for Black women and welcomed many different types of members. It grew quickly and continued its work until 1997.

See also

In Spanish: National Black Feminist Organization para niños

• Black feminism
• Womanism
• second-wave feminism