How The Combahee River Collective Display The Struggles Of Women

When reading both the Combahee River Collective and Work, Immigration, and Labor, I noticed how both display the struggles of women of color from two different communities and their efforts against oppression. The Combahee River Collective is a statement released by a group of black feminists, they viewed black feminism as a political movement that can combat the oppression that all women of color face. The black feminism movement gained traction as a part of the black liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. In regard to their struggle, the statement mentions how black feminists are not subject only to sexual oppression, but a combined racial-sexual oppression. “Our situation as Black people necessitates that we have solidarity around the

Black feminists have struggled to organize around issues that affect black women and have even struggled to claim themselves as black feminists in certain situations. The reasoning behind these issues are embedded in the fact that black feminists have no privilege to rely upon and have little access to resources. Despite these setbacks, the Collective worked on issues such as sterilization use, abortion rights, rape, healthcare, and battered women. At the end of the statement, the Collective mentions its dedication to the feminist movement and the importance of the fight against the oppression of black women. “We are ready for the lifetime of work and struggle before us” (Combahee River Collective, Section

Both the struggle of black women mentioned in the Combahee River Collective and the struggle of Asian women mentioned in the Work, Immigration, and Labor were not only affected by sexual oppression but racial oppression as well. One major difference that is noticed is how black women struggled with a lack of resources which made it challenging to organize, but Asian women were supported by organizations that provided resources that encouraged them to organize. In the Combahee River Collective, the black feminists worked on projects that supported black women in many different aspects. In Work, Immigration, and Labor, Asian women worked on projects that supported labor rights and fought against labor exploitation. It is interesting to see the differences between movements being pushed by black women and Asian women. The black feminists are fighting against a deep-rooted history of the oppression of black people in the United States dating back centuries when their ancestors were stolen from their homelands in Africa to be used as slaves. The Asian women are fighting against racial oppression in work environments because of their immigrant status. The struggles of these two groups share some similarities and differences, both of these written pieces display courageous women organizing together to fight against oppression during a time when there