Blog Post 4/24

Barbara Smith’s interview was an interesting one to read. Her experience with black feminism is an important point of view in this book to take into account. She was going to school in a time where women weren’t aloud to get credit for school supplies without the help of a man. Compared to now being an adult in a time where we have women CEOs. A major aspect I should point out is that even though there are very few female CEOs, most of them are white women. Barbara Smith is able to look back and reflect on how far women in general have come, but by doing that she must also reflect on how much more black women still need. I found it funny that when she was discussing how she got involved in feminist work/politics she told stories of how she had to go out of her way to learn the information she wanted and needed to know. She had to find the speakers, the books, and make her own conclusions. Granted she was going to school in the 70's so black history wasn’t even a thought in higher learning curriculums, but it is not so different from today. At W&J you can become a GWS major and barely skim the surface of black women. 
When Barbara began discussing her issues with the white feminist movement, I saw that as being greatly relevant today. I know this may be a very controversial opinion, but I believe feminists of today, who are not of color, are focusing on the wrong issues of feminism. Instead of discussing how black women are the least paid and most time primary care giver of families, they want to draw more attention to why girls shouldn’t have to dress a certain way, or why the pink razor costs more. These are issues that need to be talked about but I feel like they skip the bigger picture. I feel that ignoring the black woman’s struggle in the feminist movement is a slap in the face that is still very much felt in 2019.

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