Embedded Files
Welcome to a white woman's lens on Black feminism.
In my essay I wanted to share what I've learned from the readings that I've had the chance to engage with in this class, but in my creative section, I wanted to focus on the very real issues of today and how I am still working to learn, which is a privilege all in itself. Learning about racism from an outside perspective as opposed to experiencing it first hand. I seek to learn more everyday, while not being on the pursuit of understanding, because understanding comes with experience, and that I will never have.
Artwork by me, Kassidy Lowe. created in Adobe Fresco
reparations
reparations
a white woman's poem to Black women
because just learning isn’t enough
because the pain we’ve caused can’t be undone
because the system we’ve made will never work to favor You.
i know that this isn’t about me
i can’t be the white savior of Your oppressed story
i’ll never be able to walk a mile in Your shoes, in Your skin
but i can work to make the road nice again.
men with my last name have owned slaves
i am no master
my history is unclean
from now on
i will work harder with You
i will fight harder with You
i will march alongside You
i will donate to organizations that benefit You
i will vote on legislation that honors You
i will stand back and amplify Your voice
because just learning isn’t enough
because the pain i’ve caused can’t be undone
but i will work to make a system favor everyone.
Other than this poem, I dove into the world of Black feminism and the historical resistance of oppression. Black feminist readings have informed my view of Black feminism. I've decided to take important sections of this essay on Black feminism and include them here. All quotations are from my own analysis of Black feminist readings. Citations of those readings that informed my view can be found here: "Black Feminist Texts on the Resistance of Oppression"
I also want to use this space as an area for reflection. I've learned that white fragility and guilt is a phenomena that allows white people to essentially feel bad about horrible acts committed by their ancestors without taking any real responsibility. Guilt is a scapegoat. I believe that battling with these issues internally is important, but taking action against racism is so much more important, and we cannot hide behind a shield of guilt in order to escape responsibility. We made the mess, it's our job to fix it. We cannot keep asking our Black friends to educate us on their trauma.
A white woman’s job was to raise white boys into white men so that they could then inherit property from their family, property including slaves (Whatcott slides week 11). A Black woman’s job was to birth and raise children to become someone else’s property. Black women were not seen as weak or fragile as white women were, Black women were hardly seen as women, hence why Black women and white women may have not been able to see each other as allies.
A white woman’s job was to raise white boys into white men so that they could then inherit property from their family, property including slaves (Whatcott slides week 11). A Black woman’s job was to birth and raise children to become someone else’s property. Black women were not seen as weak or fragile as white women were, Black women were hardly seen as women, hence why Black women and white women may have not been able to see each other as allies.
Jacobs taught herself to read and write and ended up writing a detailed memoir on her life as an enslaved Black woman. Jacobs addresses in the preface of the book that this is not a fiction narrative and describes in gory detail the truth of slavery (Jacobs 1). Jacobs’ memoir is an act of resistance against the oppressive power dynamic because these atrocities should remain hidden in order to benefit the white patriarchy that perpetuated it.
Jacobs taught herself to read and write and ended up writing a detailed memoir on her life as an enslaved Black woman. Jacobs addresses in the preface of the book that this is not a fiction narrative and describes in gory detail the truth of slavery (Jacobs 1). Jacobs’ memoir is an act of resistance against the oppressive power dynamic because these atrocities should remain hidden in order to benefit the white patriarchy that perpetuated it.
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