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Combahee River Collective Statement

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“During this era the entire edifice of segregation was profoundly shaken”(King, Where do we go from here? 1967). This quote from Martin Luther King’s “Where Do We Go From Here” speech encapsulates the essence of the Civil Rights era. The Civil Rights and Black Power era in the United States witnessed a multitude of voices and perspectives within the African American community, each advocating for distinct visions of freedom and deliverance from oppression. There were diverse approaches to addressing systemic racism, social inequality, and political voicelessness. This paper explores the various ideas of freedom presented by African American activists during this transformative period, their stories of struggle, and highlights their similarities …show more content…

This statement provides an analysis of oppression and its intersections, spotlighting the experiences of black women and LGBTQ+ individuals within the liberation struggle. The statement emphasized the intertwinings of racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression, asserting that any form of liberation must address the collective identities and experiences of marginalized communities that are within an already heavily marginalized world. They stated, "We believe that the most profound and potentially most radical politics come directly out of our own identity" (BlackPast, The Combahee River Collective Statement 1977). This quote best demonstrates the Collective's commitment to centering the voices and experiences of those most marginalized within society, rejecting mainstream feminism's failure to address the needs of black women and other marginalized groups. The women sought to include the forgotten, marginalized people in the journey toward liberation because no other movement ever saw them as a priority in the expansive trek of the civil rights movement. They stated, “To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough”(BlackPast, The Combahee River Collective Statement 1977). This affirmation represented the purpose of their movement, which was to bring light to the forgotten communities and insist on treatment as simply humans. Moreover, the statement asserted the importance of collective action and solidarity, stating, "We are socialists because we believe that work must be organized for the collective benefit of those who do the work and create the products, and not for the profit of the bosses" (BlackPast, The Combahee River Collective Statement 1977). This assertion reflects their commitment to a comprehensive vision of liberation that addresses the structural inequalities produced by capitalism, imperialism, and patriarchy. Through

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