Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins uses an intersectional approach to describe the oppression faced by black women in the U.S. The book may facilitate meaningful dialogue around topics of sexism and racism that are apparent in the United States. Collins explores ways in which classism, sexism, and racism are coextensive. Throughout the book, the author narrates how women of color face challenges when it comes to choosing between their identity as African-Americans and their identity as women. She claims that when an African-American woman chooses solidarity with her gender, her exclusive perspective as a black woman is lost. Collins further argues that individual and agency perspectives are oppressed and lost through the use of influential images. According to her, women of color are depicted in one of the three ways: ‘mammy’, ‘hoochie’ and ‘matriarch’. Among these images, sexuality is predetermined as being over-the-top or non-existent. Women of color are often accused of being the source of their own problems. Collins argues that such descriptions never signify the lived realities of women of color in the U.S. Nevertheless, the experience of her work and women of color enable who read the book to perceive lived realities as nuanced, complex, and unique.
The author introduces the concept of a “matrix of domination” in her assessment of oppression. She claims that the matrix of domination shows how oppression is systematically structured. Collins argues that the matrix has four realms that resurface across various types of oppression. The first domain is the structural domain that works to structure oppression and power. The second domain is disciplinary that sustainably manages oppression. The third one is the hegemonic domain that legalizes oppression. The fourth and final one is the interpersonal domain that regulates consciousness and associations of people. Perhaps, one may perceive the matrix of domination as a continuum where intersections of oppression meet. However, along the continuum lie the greatly varied experience of women of color in the U.S.
Collins also describes the way in which women of color combat oppression. She clarifies how activism is vital to black feminism. She argues that oppression compels women of color into a position of “outsider-within.” Despite the women of color being a noticeable part of typical society, they are usually pushed into positions where they are merely observers. Historically, women of color have been regarded as “outsiders” to the white and middle-class. However, they remain active in their daily lives. While white women work on big institutions, women of color occupy low-level offices as well as working for rich whites as domestic workers. Therefore, to survive, black women ought to rebel against oppression in the precincts of white-dominated institutions. The author has also touched on the activism which has occurred in unconventional places like black women’s music, poetry, and literature.
Women of color feminism epistemology are fundamentally exclusive. Values and lived experiences of black women are tormenting as opposed to a worldview that is based on positivism. As a result, women of color experiences are important features of feminist work. The author makes it clear about the relationship between the standpoint theory that assesses the power of personal knowledge and women's position. The author also highlights the way in which political and social experiences shape personal perspectives. She assesses the exclusive position of women of color who experience different degrees of gender, race, and class identities. Furthermore, Collins argues that sharing of experience is vital to black feminist activism because associations are the cornerstone of black feminist epistemology. Collins, unlike other feminist work, is capable of using hard data as well as various resources and experiences, including her own. Due to her explanation, readers are drawn into her attention and may put themselves in the shoes of women of color. All this can be attributed to Collins’ explanation of the lived reality of women of color which she describes with experiences. Additionally, she illuminates the experiences faced by women of color in literature, poetry, and music which readers may have been largely ambivalent to.
Black Feminist Thought offers readers a deeper understanding of the struggle and oppression against women of color in the United States. Through her application of black feminist epistemology, she concurrently describes the concept in her work and gives readers a chance to gain knowledge through an exclusive and non-positivist perspective. She illustrates how the oppressed group of African-Americans women leads to perpetual failure to reach the United States standards of development. Black women in the United States are defined by a white, middle-class standard rather than being defined through the lens of their epistemologies and worldviews.
