Black Feminism

Sorry I know this is past the deadline for tonight's post but I really wanted to share this. Last semester I took a class on black power which touched on the issue of black feminism as its own movement, separate from both black power and feminism. It was really interesting to me to compare this to what we are studying now. This idea of separation between black and white women is portrayed in hooks' article in which feminism is unclear of who its actually helping.

The experience of black women is very different and unique, thus as this movement claims, they need their own voice and representation. With that we read Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf which I found to be a very powerful book of poetry that spoke directly to this dilemma. It is actually titled as a "choreopoem" in that it is really meant to be performed.
However, despite the title, I found it is very relatable to all women as it discusses many issues such as rape, abortion, relationships etc. that women of all colors experience. It is also a very interesting medium of expression. The intensity of the poems themselves portray all these issues in a strong and beautiful way. I enjoyed reading it but I imagine the performance of the poems is a completely different experience.

It actually made its way into a movie made by Tyler Perry recently, which at first I was really skeptical but was surprised at how well he pulled it off..it turned out much better than I would've expected it to. Definitely an interesting concept, a lot of the poems are recited in their entirety through out the story so Shange's language and tone is still beautifully captured. Anyway, I thought this would be interesting to pertain to this class as we've been looking at a lot of feminism and poetry from the perspective of white middle-class women (plath, friedan, etc.) This on the other hand provides the dilemma of being a minority and a woman and realizes why they may feel the need to have their own separate movement, questioning who is speaking for them?

i can't hear anything
but maddening screams
& the soft strains of death
& you promised me
you promised me...
somebody/anybody
sing a black girl's song
bring her out
to know herself
to know you
but sing her rhythms
carin/struggle/ hard times
sing her song of life
she's been dead so long
closed in silence so long
she doesn't know the sound
of her own voice
her infinite beauty

she's half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
sing her sighs
sing the song of her possibilities
sing a righteous gospel
let her be born
let her be born
& handled warmly


"Being alive and being a woman is all I got, but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven't conquered yet."

The movie preview:



You can also find some performances of the play on youtube.