Angela Davis Connects Movement to Free Palestine to Black Feminism

By Jamilah King Sep 22, 2014

Angela Davis spoke with activist and author Frank Barat in a wide-ranging interview recently, portions of which were captured in The Nation. In the lengthier transcript, Davis makes the connection between the movement to free Palestine and the work of black feminists throughout the African diaspora:

FB: How would you define "black feminism"? And what role could this play in today’s societies?

AD: Black feminism emerged as a theoretical and practical effort demonstrating that race, gender, and class are inseparable in the social worlds we inhabit. At the time of its emergence, black women were frequently asked to choose whether the black movement or the women’s movement was most important. The response was that this was the wrong question. The more appropriate question was how to understand the intersections and interconnections between the two movements. We are still faced with the challenge of understanding the complex ways race, class, gender, sexuality, nation and ability are intertwined–but also how we move beyond these categories to understand the interrelationships of ideas and processes that seem to be separate and unrelated. Insisting on the connections between struggles and racism in the US and struggles against the Israeli repression of Palestinians, in this sense, is a feminist process. 

Read the full interview at Jadaaliyah