List of feminist women of color

The list below includes women of color who identify as feminist, including intersectional, Black, Chicana, and Mexican feminism.

Feminist Name Birth Period Country/Race/Ethnicity Feminist work/Activist work/Comments Education Pronouns/Sexuality
Dr. Pauli Murray November 20, 1910–

July 1, 1985[1]

Country: United States

Race: African American (Black)[1]

Queer woman

(she, her, hers).[3]

Audre Lorde February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992[4] Country: United States

Race: African American (Black)[4]

  • Lorde devoted her life to fighting racism, sexism and homophobia.[5]
  • She dropped the y at the end of Audre because she found the (e) ending in both her first and last name artistically symmetric.
  • In 1966, Lorde became a librarian at Town School in New York.[4]
  • Lorde led workshops for black art students at the University of Mexico.[5]
  • In 1984, Lorde started a professorship in Berlin, Germany at the University of Berlin. During her time in Germany she used her platform to empower women. She played a huge role within the Afro-German movement.
  • Books, articles and poems published include: Coals, The First Cities, Cables to Rage, From a Land Where Other People Live, Between Our Selves, Hanging Fire, The Black Unicorn, Sister Outsider, The Cancer Journals.
  • In 1978, Lorde was diagnosed with breast cancer and she died on November 17, 2012
Lesbian woman (she, her, hers)[6]
Frances Beal January 13, 1940 – Country: United States

Race: Russian/Jew, African American (Black) and Native American.

N/A
bell hooks (Gloria Jean Watkins) September 25, 1952[8] Country: United States

Race: African American (Black)[8]

N/A
Julianne Malveaux September 22, 1953[10] Country: United States

Race: African American[10]

N/A
Toni Morrison February 18, 1931[12] Country: United States

Race: African American (Black)[12]

  • Attended Howard University in 1949, receiving her B.A. in English.
  • Attended Cornell University, receiving her M.A. in Master's of Arts.
N/A
Angela Davis January 26, 1944[15] Country: United States

Race: African American (Black)[15]

  • In 1969, Davis began teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles as an assistant philosophy professor. During that time Davis was also a part of the radical feminist movement, the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party. Because of her activism within the Communist party, Davis was fired.[15]
  • In 1970, Davis was put on the FBI's Most Wanted Fugitive List due to the allegations of her being involved with the Johnathan Jackson altercation. In 1972, the charges were dropped and she was removed from the list.[16]
  • The governor of California at the time, Ronald Reagan, campaigned against Davis to prevent her from teaching, but he failed and Davis went on to teach Women and Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University in 1977.[16]
  • During her time. Davis published numerous books, including If They Come Morning (1971), Women, Race and Class (1981), Women, Culture and Politics (1989), Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003), Freedom is a Constant Struggle (2016).
N/A
Kimberlé Crenshaw 1959 Country: United States

Race: African American (Black)

  • Crenshaw is the founder of critical race theory which highlights areas of civil rights, constitutional law and race studies.[18]
  • In 1995, she became a professor at Columbia Law School.[18]
  • In 1996, she created a non-profit program that focused on gender and diversity called "Think Tank".[18]
  • Crenshaw is the co-founder and executive director of African American Policy Reform (AAPF): removing structural inequality.[19]
  • One of Crenshaw's biggest accomplishments was constructing Intersectionality in relation to women of color and black men all over the world.[20]
  • Her work influenced equality clauses in Africa.[20]
  • Crenshaw also published a lot of writings that shaped the way we look at racism, domestic violence, the judicial system etc. all in relation to our identities and oppressions: On Intersectionality: Essential Writings of Kimberlé Crenshaw, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Over Policed and Under Protected, Reaffirming Racism: The faulty logic of Colorblindness, Remedy and Diversity, Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence against Women of Color and so forth.
  • Attended Cornell University earning her B.A. in Government and African American Studies.
  • Attended Harvard Law School earning her J.D.
  • Attended the University of Wisconsin Law School earning her LL.M.
N/A
Janet Mock March 10, 1983[19] Country: United States

Ethnicity: Hawaiian

Race: African American/Hawaiian[19]

  • Janet Mock is a trans woman who has dedicated her life to raise trans awareness and creating inclusive spaces for the trans community.[19]
  • In 2006, Mock started her career with People magazine, where she was staff editor for more than five years.[19]
  • She later took on the role of media advocate after an interview with Lea Goldman publicly telling the world she is a trans woman.[19]
  • In 2012, Mock published her first book called Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More. It was the first piece to be written by a trans person who told a story of their life before transitioning.[21]
  • During a Q&A with Tribune Business New York, Mock shared some of the women who influenced her work: Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Zora Neale Hurston.
  • In 2012, Mock started a hashtag on Twitter called #GirlsLikeUs to empower trans women all over the world.
  • In 2012, Mock received the Sylvia Rivera Activist Award.
  • Mock also worked hand in hand with a campaign fighting for the release of Monica Jones, who was arrested for "prostitution" in 2014.
  • Attended University of Hawaii at Manoa earning her B.A. in Fashion Merchandising and Masters of Arts in Journalism.[19]
Trans woman

(she, her, hers)[19]

Amandla Stenberg October 23, 1998[22] Country: United States

Race: African American (Black), Danish

  • Amandla Stenberg defines themself within feminism and activism while using their platform to educate people on white privilege, oppression and social constructions.[23]
  • In 2015, Stenberg discussed media and societal portrayals of black women's bodies. "Do black females lives matter, too?" —Stenberg.[24]
  • Stenberg also used their platform to educate people on cultural appropriation, using Kylie Jenner as an example.[25]
  • In using their platform, they invited Jaden Smith to prom, which sparked conversation on masculinity seeing that Smith chose to wear a dress to prom. They immediately made space to talk about masculinity in a way that men should be able to present themselves the way they choose without society forcing toxic masculinity and gender roles on them.[26]
  • Stenberg was also called the voice of the generation.[27][28]
  • Enrolled in film school at New York University starting in 2016
Pansexual non-binary person (they, them theirs)[29]
Laverne Cox May 29, 1972[30] Country: United States

Race: African American (Black)[30]

  • In 2013, Cox became the first transgender woman of color to play a leading role on a mainstream scripted television show in the Netflix original Orange Is the New Black[31]
  • In 2014, Cox became the first trans woman to be featured on the cover of Time magazine[32]
  • In 2014, Cox became the first trans woman to be nominated for an Emmy, earning her nomination in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series"
  • As an advocate for moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically, she was also named as one of Glamour magazine's 2014 Women of the Year, one of The Grio's 100 Most Influential African Americans, one of the Top 50 Trans Icons by the Huffington Post, and honored with the Courage Award from the Anti-Violence Project, and the Reader's Choice Award from Out Magazine[31]
  • Attended Alabama School of Fine Arts in high school
  • Attended Indiana University in Bloomington for two years before transferring to Marymount Manhattan College, earning her BFA in Dance[30]
Trans woman (she, her, hers)[31]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Biography | Pauli Murray Project". paulimurrayproject.org. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The 'Black, Queer, Feminist' Legal Trailblazer You've Never Heard Of". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  3. ^ a b c "Pauli Murray | LGBTHistoryMonth.com". lgbthistorymonth.com. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "About Audre Lorde | Audre Lorde Project". alp.org. 6 November 2007. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  5. ^ a b "Audre Lorde". Poetry Foundation. 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  6. ^ "Audre Lorde on Being a Black Lesbian Feminist". www.english.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  7. ^ a b c "Women's History Month 2012: Frances M. Beal". Social Justice For All. 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  8. ^ a b "About the bell hooks Institute | bell hooks Institute". bell hooks Institute. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  9. ^ a b c d e f "Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In". The Feminist Wire. 2013-10-28. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g "Dr. Julianne Malveaux". Dr. Julianne Malveaux. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  11. ^ a b c "Dr. Julianne Malveaux". Dr. Julianne Malveaux. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  12. ^ a b Society, The Toni Morrison. "The Official Website of The Toni Morrison Society". www.tonimorrisonsociety.org. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Toni Morrison | American author". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  14. ^ a b c d "Toni Morrison Biography – life, family, childhood, children, parents, name, story, death, history, school". www.notablebiographies.com. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  15. ^ a b c "Angela Yvonne Davis facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Angela Yvonne Davis". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  16. ^ a b Aptheker, Bettina (1999-04-01). The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801485978.
  17. ^ a b c "Davis, Angela (1944--) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  18. ^ a b c "Biography Page". law.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h "About". janetmock.com. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  20. ^ a b "Kimberlé Crenshaw". AAPF. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  21. ^ "I Was Born a Boy". Marie Claire. 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  22. ^ "Home". Amandla Stenberg. Archived from the original on 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  23. ^ Jeffs, Lotte (2016-08-10). "Cover Star Amandla Stenberg Is Born To Rule". ELLE UK. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  24. ^ Workneh, Lilly; Black Voices (2015-07-13). "Amandla Stenberg: Black Female Bodies Are Treated As Less Than Human". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  25. ^ Workneh, Lilly; Black Voices (2015-04-14). "16-year-old Amandla Stenberg Schools Everyone On Cultural Appropriation". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  26. ^ Zupkus, Lauren Zupkus (2015-05-31). "Jaden Smith Goes To Prom With 'Hunger Games' Actress Amandla Stenberg". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  27. ^ Howard, Jacqueline (2015-08-17). "Amandla Stenberg On Science, Activism And Her Idols". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  28. ^ Ryder, Caroline (2015-08-11). "How Amandla Stenberg became the voice of her generation". Dazed. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  29. ^ Eidell, Lynsey. "Amandla Stenberg Doesn't Think Gender Actually Exists". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  30. ^ a b c "Laverne Cox". Biography. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  31. ^ a b c "About + Bio ⋆ Laverne Cox". Laverne Cox. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  32. ^ Levenson, Eric (2014-05-29). "Laverne Cox Is the First Transgender Person on the Cover of Time". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-03-26.