Rich Red Witch | Feminism | The bm’s narrative

[MelissaThompson]

I was a white teenager in the 70s. The feminist movement was well underway before I was old enough for activism. I knew enough black people to know that they worked because they needed to. They didn't work because somebody appealed to their ego. They worked because black people as a whole had fewer opportunities and because regardless of what work they did they were paid less than white people. They HAD to work harder, longer, better. And whatever disadvantage black men had, black women were discriminated against more.
They worked to feed and clothe their kids and to send them to college.
It was not a matter of choosing to work because they were fed pie in the sky.
There is always tension and distrust, but, in my experience, women tend to hold each other up. Many of the same women who were feminist activists were also civil rights activists.
If they can keep us from working together, they can keep us from forming blocs and consolidating our resources.
It's not what _I_ want. I want everybody to have agency. I honestly believe most 21st century white women do.

I won't speak for the ones still living in the 1860s....

[kittensmitten]

Very awesome breakdown. That's why Princella and Cyn G told us to stop listening and talking to them

[GoBuildSomethinggg]

She is smart, she is beautiful, and she said a word.

[ChaChaWitYa]

I will keep saying this: It is dangerous for black women to be out here putting their race before their gender.

[lillybilly]

Our grandmothers and great grandmothers were oppressed and trapped into abusive loveless marriages. The papas had separate families, physically abused children and spouses, squandered wealth, were drinkers, etc. And their wives had to suffer and wait for them to die. You mean to tell me black men think we didn’t take issue with that?

[toxihex]

Men think of working and making a child as contributions to society, not being passionate about a career that benefits others and raising mentally healthy children. When women say "below minimum effort", this is what they mean. It's nobody's duty to give anyone the stage to feel useful for the sake of feeling useful or to forward their DNA.

[letmeseemm]

This! It's ok to have whatever belief you want but why would you advocate for taking away the rights of women to even have the option to work and be independent?

[somebodycomelistentothispo]

We always worked. We just couldn’t have freedom to get away from abusive men by owning homes and having bank accounts

[KBeautyNyc]

🎯🎯💯💯NO LIES TOLD ! I LOVE HER!!! Been following her for 5 years.

[PaulaRothrock]

Who is this.. I wanna give her a follow

[KatieMcManus-mddj]

Patriarchy is not a “white man” thing. It’s an agricultural society thing. The more agricultural a society has become the more women are oppressed. The closer to hunter gatherer a society has stayed, the less patriarchal. Chinese are very agricultural, Europeans are very agricultural. Indigenous Americans no, sole African societies no.

[TheBLACKboard]

I'm confused. I don't know where she gets the idea that Black people live in a matriarchy. What we live in is a failed PATRIarchy. If we lived in a matriarchy, we would have separated from Black men a time ago. Taking the lead to do what needs to be done once it is clear the "leader" is failing and doesn't care to be corrected or to self-correct is not the same as leadership or being the decision maker. BW, like BP, have simply been forced into a reactionary lifestyle where we're constantly the clean-up crew. I'd also like to know more about the alleged abuse of women in the BPP. I've seen several interviews with Elaine Brown, Ericka Higgins and Kathleen Cleaver, and they didn't mention anything. I'm also reading Seize the Day by Bobby Seale and Revolutionary Suicide by Huey Newton. They both seem very intentional to highlight all the contributions of the Black women members and of the fact that they DIDN'T want sexism, racism or classism in their ranks.