Beyond White Feminism

In their landmark book Some of Us Are Brave, Gloria Hull and Barbara Smith argue that in historical representations of women's and civil rights struggle, "all the women are white, and all the blacks are men." Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Betty Friedan. Gloria Steinem. Often, when "women's history" or feminism are portrayed in mainstream American textbooks, heroic white women take center stage. The women's movement is de-contextualized from the radical struggle for human rights, citizenship, visibility, and enfranchisement. There is little examination of the contemporary implications of white suffragists' racist, xenophobic opposition to the Fifteenth Amendment, the debt women's suffrage owes to abolitionism and Iroquois societies, or the modern civil rights movement's roots in black women's fight against domestic sexual terrorism. So how is feminism culturally relevant to young women and men of color today? On March 20-22nd Women's Leadership Project students will explore these issues at Gardena and Washington Prep High schools. Where: Social Justice Hall and Room H1 When: March 20-22nd 8:45-12:25.