The struggles for the Blacks continued even in the 1970s and 1980s. However, along with the struggles in the past, many new issues emerged in the Black Freedom movement. Although, the theme of the issues remained the same, the new issues were different especially in the case of gender. Along with injustice and inequality from the past, Black women were often the victims of sexism. Organizations like the Combahee River Collective and some great figures like Assata Shakur, Audre Lorde, Bell Hooks, and Jesse Jackson didn’t only inform about the struggles of the they accompanied, but also the action they proposed to overcome those struggles.
Combahee River Collective organization emphasized the theme oppression or injustice, especially in the Black feminism. According to the Combahee Collective organization, “The fact that racial politics and indeed racism are pervasive factors in our lives did not allow us, and still does not allow most black women, to look more deeply into our own experiences and define those things that make our lives what they are and our oppression specific to us”, it can be inferred that, oppression wasn’t just a new issue, but it was effecting the lives of the black women even from the beginning. Talking about oppression, Combahee River Collective specifically
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Among the various issues she addressed, gender gap particularly in the case of black women was the most noticeable one. She informs that the women were abused by men and ended up in prison, which shows the gender gap. Also, as she states, “There are no big-time gangsters here, no premeditated mass murderers, no godmothers. There are no big-time dope dealers, no kidnappers, no Watergate women”, she conveys that, the women in prison weren’t there for any big or serious crime, but they had to end up in prison simply because they are women, specifically black