Living Legends: Interview with Barbara Smith


So for those of us Feministing gals (Jessica, Vanessa and myself) that went to school in that sleepy upstate town known as Albany we all have a special place in our hearts for Barbara Smith. One of my most formative feminist “click” moments was seeing Barbara Smith lecture at SUNY Albany when I was a young women’s studies undergrad (11 years ago, eeeek, LOL).
If you have never heard of her, well she is an anti-racist, feminist, socialist activist and one of the framers of early identity politics. Frankly, her humility extends so far that she rarely gets the recognition she deserves. I am sure her constant calling out of white feminism for their inability to truly incorporate an analysis of race and class certainly has kept her on the sidelines as well.
I was pretty excited to see that Colorlines magazine (always on top of it) has a Q&A with her and what she has been up to, including running for public office. Check it out.


When asked about the racial and gender dynamics for the race to the White House, she says,

It’s déjà vu, the same thing all over again. We’ve seen some really negative responses to an historic primary campaign-with both a Black man and a white woman as frontrunners of the Democratic Party. The assertion that sexism is more pervasive or has worse effects than racism is not only invalid, but it sure alienates women of color from the dialogue. I want to be clear that Clinton was subjected to sexism and that Obama has been subjected to racism, and the recent attacks on Michelle Obama show that she was subjected to both.
The race/gender splits that we saw in the presidential primaries point to the lack of engagement with the complexities of how race plays itself out in the United Sates, especially in tandem with gender. Women from mainstream feminism never had any deep commitment to understanding issues of race or never felt any particular solidarity with women of color as women of color, instead of women painted colors. People who want to get past racism look at Black people as white people painted with color. They don’t look at history, 400 years of white supremacy and the impact that has on people of color to this day in this country.

She keeps it real. Always.

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