Book Review: Black Feminist Thought (Patricia Hill Collins)

Alexandra Bobet HIST 3119 Spring 2013 mysterious libber Thought Knowledge, Consciousness, and the administration of Empowerment (review) unrelenting feminist Thought Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Ed. By Patricia Hill collins. (New York Routledge, 2000. ii, 336 pp. Cloth, $128. 28, ISBN 0-415-92483-9. Paper, $26. 21, 0-415-92484-7. ) Patricia Hill collinss work, Black feminist Thought seeks to center Black Women into intersectionalist thought, addressing the power struggles that face them not only if due to their passage but also to the gender.Masculine rhetoric and powerful phallic leaders such as Huey P. Newton and Eldridge Cleaver cast off overshadowed Black Womens stories, both in and out of the Civil Right Rights/Black Power Era. It is an analysis that defines Black Feminist Thought, instead of recycling originator White Feminist philosophies and providing interpretations of them. However, she does integrate consciousness raising into the b ody of work, draft copy in from her personal experiences art object analyzing the text editions of women such as Alice Walker and campana hooks.The second edition of Black Feminist Thought differs from the commencement exercise in both the complexity and the depth of oppression and empowerment, spanning into a transnational level. collins breaks down her novel into three parts. portion I The companionable spin of Feminist Thought, Part II Core Themes in Black Feminist Thought, and Part III Black Feminism, Knowledge, and Power. Bobet 2 Part I The Social Construction of Feminist Thought veils the history of oppression of gruesome women from diverse sectors.White feminism has failed women which use of essentialist philosophy, which collins uses in the relationship between Rebecca Felton and Ida B Wells, the former praised by White feminists even though she was an advocate of lynching. Collins touches upon Black leadership and how it has addressed gender, in particular the ca se of Elaine brownish and the Black Panther Party of Oakland. Among African-American female scholars there has been a concern in the masculinist bias of Black political and social thought.With these mediums of oppression, her first theory, referred to as the Matrix of Domination is brought up. Previous models of oppression were considered additive, or hierarchal, heart and soul that they must be ranked. Collins uses the experiences of scorch women to explain that all these modes of oppression, gender, race and crystallize are interlocking and equally important when viewing domination. This bleeds mores into Part II, but the essentials are discussed in this section. piece of music there is validity in this matrix, Collinss approach is from a group level, and it does not cover how the individual may use the matrix.While it is true that all these modes of oppression are at play, it would be more beneficial for the individual to place a value on these modes. For one individual, r ace may be more of a factor than gender, for another individual it may differ, and so on. other critique of the matrix of oppression is how it does not address, sexual orientation, ableism, and ethnicity, among others. Part II Core Themes in Black Feminist Thought tackles five themes 1) a legacy of struggle, 2) treatment of the interlocking nature of race, class, and gender, 3) Bobet 3 eplacement of stereotyped images of black femininity with those that are self defined, 4) black womens activism, and 5) sensitivity to black sexual politics. The first three themes correlate to black motherhood and supporting in a binary environment, one in which black community are the oppressed and white people are the oppressors. Images of black womanhood have been terribly distorted to show stereotypes such as the unwed teenage mother and the welfare mother.Black womens activism, one of the last pith themes of the text, has been more of a desire for group survival and cohesion than all(pre nominal) political motives, as seen with the story of Sara Brooks and her job as a domestic worker. Her job speaks larger volumes to political activism and the nature of oppression than umpteen political texts, according to Collins. This outlook parallels many of bell hookss essays, especially Theory As A Liberatory Practice. This essay addresses the powers of the Sara Brookses of the world and how their actions equilibrize the discourse that is being forged.Part III Black Feminism, Knowledge, and Power comprises of the edits not constitute in the first edition. Drawing from experiences from Senegalese, American, and British Black feminists, the matrix of race, gender, and class oppressions are still relevant to all nations, despite diversity. Angela Davis is frequently cited as a champion of this transnational empowerment She encourages Black Women of privilege to not ignore the straits of our sisters who are acquainted with the immediacy of oppression in a way many of us are n ot, fueling Collinss core theme of a type of feminism grow in sisterhood and familial ties.Analysis of oppression from a nationalistic phase of view is represented, drawing further from her original gender/race/class matrix. Bobet 4 To conclude, Black Feminist Thought is thorough and crucial text because of how vigilantly it attempts (and successfully so) to not be another spin on White feminism. Using the methodological approach of historical materialism, it addresses the concerns that Black women have on the heels of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements.Concerns with the narrative are that while it does explain the roots of consciousness raising and feminist thought in Black Power movements, the overwhelming amount of text is based on the interpretations of writers such as Alice Walker, bell hooks, and Audre Lorde, much less on intellectuals. Collins touches upon the efforts of Elaine Brown, Angela Davis, and also provides a personal account of Francis Beale and her experi ence with racism in SNCC. Beales experiences with sexism, for example influenced her essay, Black Womens Manifesto Double luck To Be Black and A Woman. I found Collinss assertion of what is a feminist to be inclusionary and not in any way rejecting masculinity, but more how the masculine rhetoric that has oppressed women should be rejected. Black feminist rhetoric created in backlash has centered on community awareness, and a sense of identity through a group. While Collins alludes to capitalism as also being a lend factor in the oppression of Black women, there was not as much concrete evidence to support that as much as there was racism and sexism. Patricia Hill Collins forms a text that in the long run draws a map into the complexity of oppression and empowerment.