Combahee river corporative - Essay Example

Black women have made massive economic progress in the past four decades. Black women occupied the base step of the economic ladder of America They were involved in labor force and earned much lesser than any other nation. Richard Nixon was hostile towards black in helping them catch up with whites in any run of life. In 1970, State of the Union address, he said about blacks, "for those who make massive demands on society to make some minimal demands on themselves." The socio-economic systems along with the political system demanded the struggle against oppression.

The function of education, work experience, welfare reforms and the enforcement of equal opportunity laws played a crucial role in reshaping the feminist discourse in the USA.Black women's dissatisfaction, in both women's liberation groups and civil rights, resulted in National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) in 1973, of New York, felt the urge to form it. Disillusionment within this movement resulted in few Black Feminist organizations; one of the most prominent of these groups was Combahee River Collective Statement.

They began meetings in 1974 in Boston. The name is the conceptualization from the guerrilla action which was led by Herriet Tubman on June 2, 1863, in the Port Royal region of south California. It freed almost 750 slaves and was the only military campaign in America led by a woman. Since then, in association with other progressive organizations and movements, Combahee River Collective Statement has been in process to define and clarify the politics of power and system. It is a collective of Black feminists, who are out there to define, clarify and identify the combined racial, social and political struggle.

The women of African descent, who happen to be black, were faced by the constant life-and death struggle for survival and liberation. A black feminism or womanism organization was the product of oppressed racial and sexual castes dominated by extremely negative relationship between the American political system (a system of white male rule) and them. The distribution of Material resources was unfair to those who created resources. The further division of resources, between the men and women of black inhabitants, was complicating the situation in a worse manner because they were already limited to very few educational and employment options.

The deprived people were baffled by the gender differences because Black women's intellectual interests had been attacked by their peers, mainly Black males. Initially, the politics of class and race brought these black feminists together. CRC also considered "capitalism" as the main reason for Black women's oppression. In a society, one faces different problem which are inter-connected for example it is hard to detach race from class and sex oppression because they are most often experienced simultaneously.

They were racially and sexually oppressed and these two features were considerable determinants in their working/ economic lives. Neither had they had the access to resources nor any form of the power. These combinations of the oppressions had formed different condition in their lives which resulted in Combahee River Collective Statement. Absolute equality and freedom are ideas of an abstract world but they are the simple solutions. They would demand the destruction of the structure of oppression.

These females not only do political work as a group, but continued their individual involvement in Lesbian politics, sterilization abuse and abortion rights work. They initiated functioning as a study group and also began conversing about the possibility of starting a Black feminist publication to distribute their work. They setup a rape crisis center in Black vicinities. Organizing welfare, health care and daycare are the main concerns. They also conduct many educational workshops. They all are working for a