What’s in a Name: Feminist Identifications

Until very recently, I had been invested in naming and defining every aspect of my identity I had access to. I’d say I was a Black, first gen, cis- women loving woman. Now, besides declaring proudly the content of my natal chart, I could care less about listing off a bunch of markers that say little about my humanity. Likewise, I’m less inclined to wear any political identities on my sleeves. However, I will say my political and social beliefs are anti-racist, anti-misogyny, anti-xenophobia, abolitionist, queer, and womanist. I care about the lives of the most marginalized, the most forgotten, and the most at risk for being oppressed. As a black woman, my feminism will always center black women, it will always be diasporic first. It is also transnational. The things I want for myself (safety, access to life-saving resources, mobility, choice) I want for others everywhere. I am critical of white supremacy. I am critical of heteronormativity. I am critical of ideologies whose origins are inherently anti-me and whose effects shape my sense of self. My feminism is invested in dismantling every system or institution that robs humanity of all its love and joy.

I would describe the activities of the women from the 1970s-80s as radical in theory and on the page. I don’t know if the women whose works we have read have participated in any grassroots organization. I feel their activism lies in their thought provoking, cultural shifting critical analysis and prose. Their work are also undoubtedly feminist in nature. Despite Wallace denouncing any association of Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman with feminism, her writing is black feminist at its rawest. Lastly, at the core of these women’s beliefs and politics is the goal of liberation, for women, for folks of color, for everyone.