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Combahee river collective5/17/2023 ![]() ![]() We couldn't afford to be.ĭianca London Potts: Last year was the 40th anniversary of the Combahee River Collective Statement, and this year marks the 41st anniversary of its publication. ![]() Her words are a living testament to how living one's truth, in addition to speaking it, can set into motion a series of events that can alter the course of history for the better.īlack women as a group have never been fools. I spoke with Smith about Kitchen Table, Home Girls, and her life as an activist and writer. The 71-year-old currently resides in Albany, New York, where, although recently retired, she continues to fight for progress through her work with the Poor People's Campaign as a speaker and collaborator. Hers is an essential voice in documenting a history of feminism in which women of color aren’t marginalized. She is part of a persistent legacy of feminists of color who emerged during the '60s and '70s and boldly paved the way for future generations. And both anniversaries are a timely reminder of how vital Smith's work continues to be. Though written 35 years ago, Smith's words are as valid today as they were then. Black women as a group have never been fools. Smith contributed to the statement, and published it as the first installment of Kitchen Table's " Freedom Organizing Series." In 1983, she would go on to edit the groundbreaking " Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology." Her introduction read, in part: "Black women's ability to function with dignity, independence, and imagination in the face of total adversity - that is, in the face of white America - points to an innate feminist potential. Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the Combahee River Collective Statement, which laid out the group's beliefs and intersectional feminist practices. Through her work as an educator and coalition builder, she's encouraged communities to consistently question and challenge oppressive power structures, and to reject the pervasive greed of capitalism. As a co-founder of the Combahee River Collective - a Boston-based black lesbian feminist organization - and co-founder of the black-owned and -run publishing house Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press (which she started in 1980 at the suggestion of her friend, poet Audre Lorde), Smith has given generations of women a road map for black feminism, creative expression, and political progress. Barbara Smith is one of America's most formidable activists, educators, and authors. ![]()
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