Barbara Smith
Encyclopedia
Barbara Smith in Cleveland is an American, lesbian feminist
who has played a significant role in building and sustaining Black Feminism
in the United States. Since the early 1970s she has been active as an innovative critic, teacher, lecturer, author, independent scholar, and publisher of Black feminist thought. She has also taught at numerous colleges and universities over the last twenty five years. Smith's essays, reviews, articles, short stories and literary criticism
have appeared in a range of publications, including The New York Times
Book Review, The Black Scholar, Ms.
, Gay Community News
, The Guardian
, The Village Voice
, Conditions (magazine)
and The Nation. Barbara has a twin sister, Beverly Smith
, who is also a lesbian feminist
activist and writer.
chapter of the National Black Feminist Organization
to establish the Combahee River Collective
.
As a socialist
Black feminist organization the collective emphasized the intersectionality of racial, gender, heterosexist, and class oppression in the lives of Blacks and other women of color. Additionally, the collective aggressively worked on revolutionary issues such as "reproductive rights
, rape
, prison reform, sterilization abuse, violence against women, health care
, and racism
within the white women's movement," explains Beverly Guy-Sheftall in her introduction to Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-Feminist Thought. After working for the National Observer in 1974, Smith committed herself to never again being "in the position of having to make [her] own writing conform to someone else's standards or beliefs," (Smith 1998).
Soon thereafter Smith felt the growing need for women of color to have their own autonomous publishing resource and in 1980, along with Audre Lorde
and Cherríe Moraga
, co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
, the first U.S. publisher for women of color. During her time as the publisher for Kitchen Table, Smith continued to write and a collection of her essays, articles and reviews can be found in The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender and Freedom.
Smith's article "Toward a Black Feminist Consciousness" (1982), first published in All the Women Are White, All the Blacks are Men, But some of Us Brave: Black Women's Studies is frequently cited as the breakthrough article in opening the field of Black women's literature and Black lesbian discussion. She has edited three major collections about Black women: Conditions (magazine)
: Five, The Black Women's Issue (with Lorraine Bethel
), 1979; All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies (with Gloria T. Hull and Patricia Bell Scott), 1982; and Home Girls
: A Black Feminist Anthology, (first edition, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983; second edition, Rutgers University Press, 2000).
"What I really feel is radical is trying to make coalitions with people who are different from you. I feel it is radical to be dealing with race and sex and class and sexual identity all at one time. I think that is really radical because it has never been done before," (Smith as cited in Hill Collins, 2000).
Smith and the Combahee River Collective have been credited with coining the term identity politics
, which they defined as "a politics that grew out of our objective material experiences as Black women. To those who would criticize her commitment to understanding and continuing discussion around identity, Smith noted in an interview in off our backs
, a feminist magazine, that "I have been called an essentialist. By `essentialist' [people] mean that when I look in the mirror and see a Black woman, I think it means something. It's not just a representation. I share a political status with other Black women although my history is unique."
Continuing her work as a community organizer, Smith was elected to the Albany NY Common Council (city council) in 2005, representing Ward 4. She was reelected in 2009, and also worked during this period on staff with David Kaczynski at New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty on innovative solutions to violent crime.
Fellow in 1996, and received a 1994 Stonewall Award for her activism.
Barbara is an alum of the Ragdale Foundation
and a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Lesbian feminism
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s , that questions the position of lesbians and women in society. It particularly refutes heteronormativity, the assumption that everyone is "straight" and society should be structured to serve...
who has played a significant role in building and sustaining Black Feminism
Black feminism
Black feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably bound together. Forms of feminism that strive to overcome sexism and class oppression. The Combahee River Collective argued in 1974 that the liberation of black women entails freedom for all people, since it would...
in the United States. Since the early 1970s she has been active as an innovative critic, teacher, lecturer, author, independent scholar, and publisher of Black feminist thought. She has also taught at numerous colleges and universities over the last twenty five years. Smith's essays, reviews, articles, short stories and literary criticism
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
have appeared in a range of publications, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Book Review, The Black Scholar, Ms.
Ms. magazine
Ms. is an American feminist magazine co-founded by American feminist and activist Gloria Steinem and founding editor Letty Cottin Pogrebin together with founding editors Patricia Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, and Mary Peacock, that first appeared in 1971 as an insert in New York magazine...
, Gay Community News
Gay Community News (Boston)
Gay Community News was a weekly journal published in Boston from 1973 to 1992 by the Bromfield Street Educational Foundation. It was an important resource for the LGBT community...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, Conditions (magazine)
Conditions (magazine)
Conditions was a lesbian feminist literary annual founded in 1976 in Brooklyn, New York by Elly Bulkin, Jan Clausen, Irena Klepfisz and Rima Shore.-Publishing Collective:Conditions was a magazine which emphasised the lives and writings of lesbians, and, throughout its...
and The Nation. Barbara has a twin sister, Beverly Smith
Beverly Smith
Beverly Smith in Cleveland, Ohio is a Black feminist health advocate, writer, academic, theorist and activist who is also the twin sister of writer, publisher, activist and academic Barbara Smith...
, who is also a lesbian feminist
Lesbian feminism
Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s , that questions the position of lesbians and women in society. It particularly refutes heteronormativity, the assumption that everyone is "straight" and society should be structured to serve...
activist and writer.
History and activism
In 1975 Smith reorganized the BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
chapter of the National Black Feminist Organization
National black feminist organization
The National Black Feminist Organization was founded in 1973. The group worked to address the unique issues affecting black women in America. Founding members included Michele Wallace, Faith Ringgold, Doris Wright and Margaret Sloan-Hunter. They borrowed the office of the New York City chapter of...
to establish the Combahee River Collective
Combahee River Collective
The Combahee River Collective was a Black feminist Lesbian organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980. They are perhaps best known for developing the Combahee River Collective Statement, a key document in the history of contemporary Black feminism and the development of the concepts of...
.
As a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
Black feminist organization the collective emphasized the intersectionality of racial, gender, heterosexist, and class oppression in the lives of Blacks and other women of color. Additionally, the collective aggressively worked on revolutionary issues such as "reproductive rights
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, prison reform, sterilization abuse, violence against women, health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
, and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
within the white women's movement," explains Beverly Guy-Sheftall in her introduction to Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-Feminist Thought. After working for the National Observer in 1974, Smith committed herself to never again being "in the position of having to make [her] own writing conform to someone else's standards or beliefs," (Smith 1998).
Soon thereafter Smith felt the growing need for women of color to have their own autonomous publishing resource and in 1980, along with Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde was a Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist.-Life:...
and Cherríe Moraga
Cherríe Moraga
Cherríe L. Moraga is a Chicana writer, feminist activist, poet, essayist, and playwright.-Biography:Moraga was born in Whittier, California. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, California and her Master's from San Francisco State University in 1980...
, co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press was an activist feminist press started in 1980 by author Barbara Smith at the suggestion of her friend, poet Audre Lorde.-Beginnings:...
, the first U.S. publisher for women of color. During her time as the publisher for Kitchen Table, Smith continued to write and a collection of her essays, articles and reviews can be found in The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender and Freedom.
Smith's article "Toward a Black Feminist Consciousness" (1982), first published in All the Women Are White, All the Blacks are Men, But some of Us Brave: Black Women's Studies is frequently cited as the breakthrough article in opening the field of Black women's literature and Black lesbian discussion. She has edited three major collections about Black women: Conditions (magazine)
Conditions (magazine)
Conditions was a lesbian feminist literary annual founded in 1976 in Brooklyn, New York by Elly Bulkin, Jan Clausen, Irena Klepfisz and Rima Shore.-Publishing Collective:Conditions was a magazine which emphasised the lives and writings of lesbians, and, throughout its...
: Five, The Black Women's Issue (with Lorraine Bethel
Lorraine Bethel
Lorraine Bethel is an African American lesbian feminist poet and author. She is a graduate of Yale University.Bethel has taught and lectured on black women's literature and black female culture at various institutions...
), 1979; All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies (with Gloria T. Hull and Patricia Bell Scott), 1982; and Home Girls
Home Girls
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology is a collection of Black lesbian and Black feminist writing, edited by Barbara Smith. The anthology was first published in 1983 by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, and was reissued by Rutgers University Press in 2000 ....
: A Black Feminist Anthology, (first edition, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983; second edition, Rutgers University Press, 2000).
"What I really feel is radical is trying to make coalitions with people who are different from you. I feel it is radical to be dealing with race and sex and class and sexual identity all at one time. I think that is really radical because it has never been done before," (Smith as cited in Hill Collins, 2000).
Smith and the Combahee River Collective have been credited with coining the term identity politics
Identity politics
Identity politics are political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of self-identified social interest groups and ways in which people's politics may be shaped by aspects of their identity through race, class, religion, sexual orientation or traditional dominance...
, which they defined as "a politics that grew out of our objective material experiences as Black women. To those who would criticize her commitment to understanding and continuing discussion around identity, Smith noted in an interview in off our backs
Off our backs
For the MEN song, go to Off Our Backs .off our backs is a radical feminist periodical published in Washington, D.C....
, a feminist magazine, that "I have been called an essentialist. By `essentialist' [people] mean that when I look in the mirror and see a Black woman, I think it means something. It's not just a representation. I share a political status with other Black women although my history is unique."
Continuing her work as a community organizer, Smith was elected to the Albany NY Common Council (city council) in 2005, representing Ward 4. She was reelected in 2009, and also worked during this period on staff with David Kaczynski at New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty on innovative solutions to violent crime.
Awards
Smith was made a Bunting Institute at Radcliffe CollegeRadcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
Fellow in 1996, and received a 1994 Stonewall Award for her activism.
Barbara is an alum of the Ragdale Foundation
Ragdale
Ragdale is the summer retreat of Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, located in Lake Forest, Illinois. It is also the home of the Ragdale Foundation...
and a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Writings
- Bethel, Lorraine, and Barbara Smith, eds. Conditions: Five, The Black Women's Issue 2, no. 2 (Autumn, 1979).
- Bulkin, Elly, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and Barbara Smith. Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti-Semitism and Racism. Ithaca, N.Y.: Firebrand Books, 1984, 1988.
- Hull, Gloria T., Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith, eds. All the Women Are White, All the Blacks are Men, But some of Us Brave: Black Women's Studies. New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 1982.
- Mankiller, Wilma, Gwendolyn Mink, Marysa Navarro, Barbara Smith, and Gloria SteinemGloria SteinemGloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, eds. The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. - Smith, Barbara, and Beverly Smith. "Across the Kitchen Table: A Sister-to-Sister Dialogue." In This Bridge Called My BackThis Bridge Called My BackThis Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color is a feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. The anthology was first published in 1981 by Persephone Press, and the second edition was published in 1984 by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press...
: Writings by Radical Women of Color, eds. Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa. Watertown, Massachusetts: Persephone Press, 1981 - Smith, Barbara. "’Feisty Characters’ and ‘Other People's Causes’: Memories of White Racism and U.S. Feminism." In The Feminist Memoir Project: Voices from Women's Liberation, eds. Rachel Blau DuPlessisRachel Blau DuPlessisRachel Blau DuPlessis an American poet and essayist, is known as a feminist critic and scholar with a special interest in modernist and contemporary poetry.-Life and work:...
and Ann Snitow. New York: Crown Publishing, 1998. - Smith, Barbara. ed. Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983.
- Smith, Barbara. Writings on Race, Gender and Freedom: The Truth that Never Hurts. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1998.
- Smith, Barbara. "Where Has Gay Liberation Gone? An Interview with Barbara Smith." In Homo Economics: Capitalism, Community, and Lesbian and Gay Life, eds. Amy Gluckman and Betsy Reed. New York and London: Routledge, 1997.
See also
- bell hooksBell hooksGloria Jean Watkins , better known by her pen name bell hooks, is an American author, feminist, and social activist....
- WomanismWomanismThe word womanism was adapted from Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker's use of the term in her book In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose...
- Critical social theory