Concerns of American Black Feminists (continued from page 9)

its virulence, places black women at the bottom of the heap economically and socially."

Black and white men are enemies in a different sense. It is much less threatening on a gut level to call the oppressor the Ruling Class and to ignore everything and everyone else who is making your life intolerable and unfree. Minority women must realize they do not suffer the same oppression as minority working class men. "The man who beats you is a member of the ruling class in your own home".

Black women interested in women's rights are made to feel disloyal to racist issues. Because black women have an equal stake in both the women's movement and black liberation, they need be the key figures in both movements. White women feminists can act as allies in both causes. White feminist issues are closely related to black women's issues: adequate income maintenance and the elimination of poverty, repeal or reform of anti-abortion laws, a national system of child-care centers, extension of labor standards to workers now excluded, cash maternity benefits as part of a system of social insurance, and the removal of all sex barriers to educational and employment opportunities at all levels.

Middle class black women, because of their tradition of independence and long expérience in the civil rights movement, can play an important role in strengthening alliances between black revolution and women's liberation. Pauli Murray states in The Liberation of Black Women that the middle class black woman's advantages make it possible for her to "communicate with her white counterparts, and interpret her deepest feelings within the black community and cooperate with white women on the basis of mutual concerns as women". She feels productive communication between white and black women is possible, especially since there is an absence of the power relationship felt by black and white males. By asserting a leadership role in the feminist movement, the black woman can keep the women's movement and black movement allied while advancing the interests of all women.

Racism and sexism also thwart the efforts of black women to understand our oppression. Little relevant research material is available. I was fortunate in that I spoke with two black professional women whose concerns were directed toward racial equality and women's rights. They referred me to several excellent references. The lack of quantitative research is due to the fact that most feminist research listed in the psychological abstracts and sociological abstracts is written by white females from their own perspective. Many articles about black women are published in the Black Scholar, which is referenced in only one sociological abstract. If articles are not referenced or published in other journals and magazines, and made accessible to the public, valuable information is lost. The literature I reviewed was strong, substantial and very exciting. For example, in Tomorrow's Tomorrow, a sociological study of the poor black girl growing into womanhood, Ladner eliminates the preconceived notion of the deviant perspective in the study of the black community. One of the first sociologists to view the black female as positive, Ladner opened a new area in black thought.

Black women do have different concerns and issues, and additional pressures due to their double oppression. Current literature and interviews with other black females strongly support this thesis. .There is a need for more research and study focusing on black and Third World women and, in particular, on the importance of the black woman in the struggle for human rights.

References:

Beal, Frances M. "Slave of A Slave No More: Black Women in Struggle." The Black Scholar, March, 1975.

Cade, Toni. The Black Woman. New York: Mentor Books, 1970.

Hood, Elizabeth F. "Black Women, White Women: Separate Paths to Liberation." The Black Scholar, April, 1978.

King, Mae C. "The Politics of Sexual Stereotypes." The Black Scholar, March-April, 1973. Ladner, Joyce A. Tomorrow's Tomorrow. New York: Doubleday, 1971.

Lerner, Gerda. Black Women in White America: A Documentary History. New York: Pantheon, Books, 1972.

Murray, Pauli. "The Liberation of Black Women," in Jo Freeman, ed. Women: A Feminist Perspective, California, 1975.

Nelson, Charmeynne D. "Myths About Black Women Workers in Modern America.” The Black Scholar, March, 1975.

Smith, Barbara. "Notes for Yet Another Paper on Black Feminism Or Will the Real Enemy Please Stand Up?" in Bethel, Lorraine, and Smith, Barbara (eds.), Conditions: Five, The Black Women's Issue, 1979.

Cancer Journals (continued from page 7)

ty and acceptability in order to "realize that losing a breast is infinitely preferable to losing one's life."

Lorde chose the path of non-conformity and a rejection of prosthesis because her decision helped her to focus her energy and time on her own internal strengths and, to experience a genuine grieving process that inevitably must be resolved if a woman is truly to move on to her future instead of dwelling in the past. Since the publication of The Cancer Journals, we have entered an even more insidious time of nostalgic, religious revivalism that thrives on past sentiments and values no longer appropriate (if indeed they ever were) to our complex times. The superficial perspective of "looking on the bright side" and the emphasis on "wholesome" family life that appears ordered and tidy, cleansed of any philosophical depth, emanates from Washington, D.C. in much the same way that the status quo tried to prevent Lorde from coming to grips with the realities of her life: "The idea that happiness can insulate us against the results of our environmental madness is a rumor circulated by our enemies to destroy us. And what Woman of Color in america over the age of 15 does not live with the knowledge that our daily lives are stitched with violence and with hatred, and to naively ignore that reality can mean 、 destruction? We are equally destroyed by false hap ́piness and false breasts, and the passive acceptance of false values which corrupt our lives and distort our experience."

CWW (continued from page 3)

on cutting down the gains made since passage of the Civil Rights Act. The White Male Clubs of business and government are giving powerful support to the axe-wielding meinbers of Congress. Women have learned that gentle persuasion, handwringing, tears and a case of the vapors are weak weapons. Their hope is in mobilizing supporters in great numbers to let their lawmakers know that this is a central issue of their lives and will influence future elections.

To this end, Cleveland Women Working is lending its efforts in the next few months to the national "Campaign to Defend Women's Rights". The support and involvement of all groups and individuals is sought. CWW has sample letters and other materials available to those who will join in this coalition.

The valuable gains made in recent years were not just handed out, but fought for. Now we must fight to preserve those gains. Call CWW at 566-8511 for more information.