How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor (Editor)

Overview

The Combahee River Collective, a path-breaking group of radical black feminists, was one of the most important organizations to develop out of the antiracist and women’s liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. In this collection of essays and interviews edited by activist-scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, founding members of the organization and contemporary activists reflect on the legacy of its contributions to Black feminism and its impact on today’s struggles.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality in the United States. Her book From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation won the 2016 Lannan Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book. Her articles have been published in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, Jacobin, New Politics, The Guardian, In These Times, Black Agenda Report, Ms., International Socialist Review, and other publications. Taylor is Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642591040
Publisher:	Haymarket Books
Publication date:	12/05/2012
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality in the United States. Her book From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation won the 2016 Lannan Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book. Her articles have been published in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, Jacobin, New Politics, the Guardian, In These Times, Black Agenda Report, Ms., International Socialist Review, and other publications. Taylor is assistant professor in the department of African American Studies at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

The Combahee River Collective Statement 15

Barbara Smith 29

Beverly Smith 71

Demita Frazier 111

Alicia Garza 145

Comments Barbara Ransby 177

Acknowledgments 185

Contributor Biographies 187

Editorial Reviews

This new collection of a four-decades-old text reminds us that black women have long known that America’s destiny is inseparable from how it treats them and the nation ignores this truth at its peril.”
—The New York Review of Books

“A striking collection that should be immediately added to the Black feminist canon.”
—Bitch Media

“An essential book for any feminist library.”
—Library Journal

“The publication of How We Get Free marks the 40th anniversary of the Combahee River Collective statement, which is often said to be the foundational document of intersectional feminism. As white feminism has gained an increasing amount of coverage, there are still questions as to how black and brown women’s needs are being addressed. This book, through a collection of interviews with prominent black feminists, provides some answers.” –Rachael Revesz, the Independent

“For feminists of all kinds, astute scholars, or anyone with a passion for social justice, How We Get Free is an invaluable work.” –Ethnic and Racial Studies Journal

From the Publisher