Women, race & class

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Angela Y. Davis: Women, race & class (1982, Women's Press)

271 pages

English language

Published July 14, 1982 by Women's Press.

ISBN:
978-0-7043-3892-0
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4 stars (1 review)

Longtime activist, author and political figure Angela Davis brings us this expose of the women's movement in the context of the fight for civil rights and working class issues. She uncovers a side of the fight for suffrage many of us have not heard: the intimate tie between the anti-slavery campaign and the struggle for women's suffrage. She shows how the racist and classist bias of some in the women's movement have divided its own membership. Davis' message is clear: If we ever want equality, we're gonna have to fight for it together.

10 editions

Review of 'Women, Race & Class' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Massive trigger/content warning for violence and rape for this book. Some really brutal scenes depicting the treatment of black women and men, but I think it's important to read this if you can stomach it.

The book was really informative, but it read more like a timeline about the treatment of black women from slavery til the 70s and their role in emancipation and organising against racist laws (maybe this is my bad for different expectations). I think the relationship between women, race and class could have been synthesized better. I also was expecting an explicit chapter on the analysis of this relationship. Although I managed to piece how these three factors are related, and developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for intersectionality in feminism as well as the class-struggle, I think a few more paragraphs to drive home the necessity of solidarity (especially in the last few chapters) would …

Subjects

  • African American women -- Social conditions
  • Women and socialism -- United States