An onion with layers of reality to conquer…

As much as it pains my hear to acknowledge the truth of the matter, the Combahee River Collective faced not only having their needs met as Black women, but also as Black lesbians. What a tragedy within the feminist movement taking place right before their very eyes. The aforementioned being their thesis in A Black Feminist Statement, The Combahee River Collective faced a multitude of challenges ranging from economic to political and personal to intracollectively. Something very specific struck me while I was reading this essay and it is rooted in my experience with activism in the early 2000s…hindsight telling me that I should not have been surprised when POC (People of Color), a sub section of gay rights activists, refused to participate in a marriage rights protest I was organizing in Philadelphia, they too had felt excluded just as the Black lesbians of the 70s did.

As a White lesbian, new to activism, I did not understand why POC didn’t want to participate – why they couldn’t put their hurts aside and join us, just as the Black lesbians of the Combahee River Collective experienced when approached by another feminist group in the late 70s. “We were contacted at that time by socialist feminists, with whom we had worked on abortion rights activities, who wanted to encourage us to attend the National Socialist Feminist Conference in Yellow Springs. One of our members did attend and despite the narrowness of the ideology that was promoted at that particular conference, we became more aware of the need for us to understand our own economic situation and to make our own economic analysis.” (Combahee River Collective, 1977) This makes me wonder how many other groups experience this sort of excluded inclusion.

This essay really made me think long and hard about being actively oblivious to intrasectional matters of feminism. It forced me to question myself and my intention in my day to day life when faced with marginalized groups within marginalized groups. One of the questions I asked myself how the under education Black women in my community, potentially living below the poverty line feel about the middle class Black women here…and about the wealthy Black women…overall, this essay made me feel proud of the Combahee River Collective because despite the layers of oppression they faced, they lacked fear and they possessed will. If only will alone could solve a giant societal shortcoming. I would love to know where these women are now and plan to research more on the subject.