Black Women Are Leading The Movement — And It’s Always Been That Way
Two years ago Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, one of the leading black intellectuals of our time, sat down with Dr. Angela Davis on the City Arts & Lectures podcast. The whole thing is worth a listen. In profiling Davis in his book, Stamped From The Beginning, he explained that he couldn’t think of a better model of antiracism than Davis.
I loved him saying that. Too often we hold up the men as the leaders of the historical movement — but that’s gender bias and not reality. Black women don’t get enough credit.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was obviously very important (and there are parts of him that I think are under-appreciated). But a lot of the time he is deified unhealthily. In holding him up as the symbol of black leadership, I fear the stories of the women doing the unglamorous work of the movement go unnoticed.
Ella Baker was no less significant to the movement than Dr. King. She wasn’t an orator but she had an energy that drew out the best in people. One of the interesting dynamics at play in the early stages of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was their competing strategic visions for how to bring about change.
Dr. King understood the importance of narrative. Wisely, he knew that if they didn’t tell the ‘right’ story about civil rights, nothing else mattered. With a top down hierarchical model, managing the narrative, media and public opinion — all critical variables — was more feasible.
Baker understood the importance of empowering people. Organizers in positions of influence should use it to lift people up — and get out of the way. As is found in spiritual teachings, the role goal is to unlock the human potential already there.
In a sense, they both “won”. But the form of the movement today is all Baker.
She’s one example of many. We can go all the way back to Harriet Tubman if we had time. In this post, I’m going to highlight the leadership of black women that are not widely known. I’ve come across them in my own readings and developed a deep appreciation for their work. There are many others to learn about but here are a few:
Dr. Barbara Ransby
Dr. Ransby is a historian and an activist. She has the unique ability to both organize people and ideas. Her books on Ella Baker and the current Black Lives Matter movement are both highly recommended.
Judy Richardson
Another woman of many talents. There’s an iconic photo of Richardson at the lunch counter during a sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was so young! Since then, she’s become an author, filmmaker, and entrepreneur.
Janai Nelson
Stacey Abrams is perhaps the most visible advocate in this space — but don’t sleep on Janai Nelson. A former law professor and constitutional scholar, she is now the leading litigation at the NAACP on voting rights cases. One can find her writings in briefings to the Supreme Court, and in the country’s leading Law Reviews. Her leadership will be critical in the years to come.
