The Groundings with my Sisters: Toward a Black Diasporic Feminist Agenda in the Americas
My context for understanding the radical black female
subject is a particular formulation of the black radical tradition that
combines intellectual and activist work in the service of one's
oppressed communities.
—Carole Boyce Davies, The Left of Karl
Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones (2008)
Nós, mulheres negras estamos nas ruas para denunciar e
combater o racismo e o sexismo estamos reafirmando a trajetória de luta
de nossas ancestrais, mulheres que foram arrancadas de suas famílias,
sociedades, culturas, modos de viver na África, mulheres que criaram um
modo de vida neste continente chamado América.
—CMA Hiphop, "25 de Julho Dia da Mulher Negra da América Latina e
do Caribe" (2008)
Introduction
The extent to which July 25, the Day of the Black Woman in Latin
America and the Caribbean, has been celebrated since its creation in
1992 is difficult to document. Rarely is the date or its significance
mentioned. And I am doubtful that state recognition of black women's
labor, politics, and cultures is possible, given that many Latin
American expressions of public pride in black womanhood conjure up
images of political subalterity, of feminist solidarity located on the
fringes of black activism, and of desires of geographically boundless
human dignities emerging from revolutionary ideals instead of the
everyday realities of African descendant women. This essay is my attempt
to reverse this tendency by restoring—rather than diminishing—the
transnational black feminist possibilities in the Americas.
Black women have the poorest quality of life and the worst chances of
survival, according to the human development indexes for Latin American
nations, such as Brazil (Beato 2004; Lovell 1999; Lovell and Wood 1998).
Yet this form of gendered racial class exclusion has inspired rather
than hindered their ability to resist. Black women in Brazil, Colombia,
Nicaragua, and elsewhere in the Americas share similar life experiences
with racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia—all of which have led to
shared political interests (Santos 2007; Safa 2006). For instance, when
the marchers on July 25 shout, "Power to the black woman!" across Latin
American cities, they mean to affirm a collective empowerment and to
convey the urgency of political action both locally and globally.
Political pessimism is not welcome.
This exploratory essay provides a brief reflection on the diasporic
dimension of black women's politics, specifically how black women in
Latin America understand their experiences, identities, and social
activism in relationship to other black women throughout the Americas.
What interests me, in addition to the knowledge production and political
organizing among black feminists in Latin America, are the various
attempts at forming a transnational community of African descendant
peoples in the anti-sexism and anti-racism struggle. Focusing on the
politics of geographic difference shapes the formation of a black
diasporic feminist agenda, specifically the ethics and politics of
crossing Latin American borders. I reaffirm the idea that transnational
frameworks and actions are integral to the black women-led social
justice project.
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