5 books at the intersection of Black feminist thought, culture, and politics
Two things can be true at the same time. We're in a time of backlash to ideas that challenge white America's perception of itself, and we're also living through a great reevaluation of what American society can and should look like.
It's also true that some of the most important leaders on the frontlines of these battles are Black women, people like law professor Kimberle Crenshaw who helped develop the concept of intersectionality and the much debated and maligned and misunderstood critical race theory and a new wave of thinkers picking up that inheritance. Black feminists are also some of the most astute observers and theorists of American mass culture right now. Scholars and writers like Patricia Hill Collins, Joan Morgan, and the late bell hooks have long understood that oppression and injustice is perpetrated and enacted through customs and cultural practices as well as law. At it's root, Black feminism is an ideology of liberation rooted in Black women's experience, with the inclusive aim of disrupting oppressive social hierarchies for all people. Black feminist theory is arguably now a key part of how all of us make sense of the world.
At the same time, the kind of cultural analysis that Black feminists promote continues to be controversial. Between the numerous attacks on library collections and — a 2021 NBC News found at least 165 local and national groups are trying to disrupt or block lessons on race and gender — and the recent passing of, questions of culture and identity bubbled up with renewed urgency.
