‘Roots of Intersectionality’ Part 1
with Anna and Honesty
‘Intersectionality’ is a word you hear around a lot in some feminist spaces — at Grabbing Back we call ourselves ‘intersectional feminists.’ So it’s about time we looked at what exactly that means. The term ‘intersectionality’ was coined by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989, but the concept had deep roots. So this month our podcast (and article) focuses on those deep roots - the context that Crenshaw was writing into.
This is a 3-part podcast in which we asked people in our community to reflect on some key pieces of theory that shaped the landscape of feminism before the term ‘intersectionality’ was coined. In Part 1, our contributors reflect on extracts from the Combahee River Collective Statement and Angela Davis’ book ‘Women, Race and Class’.
Podcast overview
Over the three parts of this podcast, we look at extracts from the following pieces of theory:
Part 1
Extract 1: Combahee River Collective Statement — reflection: Anna
Extract 2: ‘Women, Race and Class,’ by Angela Davis — reflection: Honesty
Part 2
Extract 3: ‘Ain’t I A Woman?’ by bell hooks — reflection: Sophie Lewis
Extract 4: ‘Your Silence Will Not Protect You,’ by Audre Lorde — reflection: Jess Leigh
Part 3
Extract 5: ‘Rosalie’ by Angelina Weld Grimke — reflection: Amu Gibb
Extract 6: ‘Lessons from the 1960s,’ by Audre Lorde — reflection: Chi Chi
Extract 1:
Combahee River Collective Statement
The Combahee River Collective were a Black feminist lesbian collective, with socialist roots, who were active in Boston in the 1970s. They were vital in pushing the white feminist movement, and the Civil Right Movement, to recognise the specific needs of Black women, especially Black lesbians. The extract in the podcast grapples with the idea of multiple identities leading to multiple oppressions.
Reflection 1: Anna
Anna reflects on this extract from the Combahee River Collective Statement.
Extract 2:
‘Women, Race and Class’ | Book by Angela Davis
Angela Davis is a radical African American academic and activist, who has been engaged in fighting racial injustice since the 1960s. She has written ten books, but our extract is taken from her first work, which is a history of the racial inequality in the feminist movement and women’s experiences from the abolition of slavery to the 1980s. The extract in the podcast examines the gendered roles that emerged for enslaved women as a result of white oppression and violence.
Reflection 2: Honesty
Honesty reflects on this extract from Angela Davis.
Honesty is a queer, disabled black woman of mixed heritage who works for the Runnymede Trust. The Runnymede Trust is the UK’s leading race equality think tank. She believes strongly in facilitating equality through organising.
Honesty: she/her