Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism

One myth of the women’s suffrage movement is that its inclusion of speakers like Sojourner Truth is evidence of its inclusivity. However, white female activists openly spoke out against Truth’s platform and chanted their disapproval while she spoke. Historical records often discount or overlook the contributions of Black women, even within women’s movements. Hooks asserts that the limited involvement of Black women in feminist activism is evidence of their exclusion rather than their disinterest: “White female racism barred them from full participation in the movement” (161).

hooks recognizes the contributions of several Black women who worked to dismantle systems of oppression and elevate the lived experiences of Black Americans. When Black activist Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin realized that the white women’s organizations would not allow Black women to fully participate in the suffrage movement, she formed the First National Conference of Colored Women in 1895. Ruffin argued that an inclusive women’s movement would elevate the status of all women. Black women faced specific issues within patriarchal culture that did not apply to white women, including the stereotype of Black women as immoral. The National League for the Protection of Colored Women was formed to provide support for young girls who were pushed into sex work after a lifetime of slavery, an effort that white women did not view as relevant to their cause.