My observation is no. Feminism is not for women of color and allow me to explain why.

Feminism, originally, was composed of only Caucasian women fighting for Caucasian women’s right to vote. All women didn’t have the right to vote in all states until as late as the 1960s.

Women of color not only deal/dealt with sexism, but they also deal/dealt with the racism of the white feminists. They try to separate it all by saying there were three waves of feminism. First-wave is of the 19th and early 20th century when the focus was on WHITE women’s suffrage. Second wave is of the 1960s-1980s when feminism began to include all women and eased into including the LGBT. Third wave is modern day feminism; accepting of “all women” including those who are transgendered, fighting for equal pay, end of gender roles and (the illusion of) fighting against cultural inequality. First wave or third wave, it all doesn’t matter when the origins never included you. Before you say, “Well, exactly! See, things have changed! That’s not how modern day feminism is!” Just ask yourself. Will adopting a term that originally was not for you, diminish its roots?

 

Okay, so let me get blunt and more into depth if the above passage wasn’t enough for you.

Feminism is a movement that was initially generated on exclusions. Just like this country. America’s “forefathers” stated that “all men are created equal” while abducting, sacrificing, white-washing, and disrespecting our people and don’t forget all the while stealing our culture and history. So I wouldn’t dare call myself an African “american” if the term was generated on the wrong-doings of my people. The whole country wasn’t founded but stolen from people of color who were already indigenous to this land. Same thing with feminism; stated that all women deserve equal rights but that excluded women of color and it still does to this day. So i would never consider myself a feminist. But that does not mean that I am not for the rights of me and my sisters. Women of color, let alone Black Women, are especially targeted in this racist, misogynistic patriarchy we call AmeriKKKa. Our girls are being discriminated against, mocked, hypersexualized and fetishized at such a young age and it’s sick and inhumane. It shouldn’t matter and it doesn’t matter what they’re wearing, but just because of their anatomy it’s considered inappropriate. Like it’s our fault that our hips,thighs, and butt are usually more shapely than that of a white woman. Like it’s our fault that a man would look at us and his hormones would go berserk. It’s not our duty to cover up and wear baggy clothes, it’s a man’s duty to control himself. The Black woman does not only experience inequality because of the fact that we are women, but we also experience racism and cultural/historical smudging because we are Black. Women make less money a year in the same occupation than that of a man, but a Black woman makes even less than that. Black Women are criticized if we embrace our natural hair and our culture, but white women appropriate it, rename it, and all the while calling themselves feminists in the same breath. Our culture, trends, anatomy, hairstyles and facial features are all the standard of beauty as long as it is not attached to us. Once again hushing women of color yet acting like the exclusionary acts they portray doesn’t exist. (i.e. changing Black Lives Matter to All Lives Matter…The reason why Black Lives Matter needed to be stated is because we are shown otherwise everyday, so don’t you dare suppress it all and pretend like you don’t see what we see by changing it to All Lives Matter). I do not expect white women to speak on our behalf, instead, I expect us to have our own voice without being robbed of our spotlight when we attempt to speak up against the injustices we experience whether you all see it as valid or not.

 

Okay, before you say I magnified the Black woman and not all women of color, it is all because I know more about what me and my people witness firsthand and I am allowing other women of color to speak out and project what they experience as well.

 

*Women of color have been referring to themselves as “Womanists or Pro-Black Womanists in opposition to the term feminist. I feel that this is a healthier alternative. Me…I’m just Pro-Me… Im Black, and I am a Woman… go figure.

(Whatever tickles your fancy if you like to get jiggy with all these labels.)

Remember, always speak YOUR truth…by ANY means necessary.