Why When Black Women Are Free, We’re All Free

“Stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together.” Hebrews 10. 

Something was missing from the Civil Rights and feminist movements: the voices of Black women. Black feminist visionaries Barbara Smith and Audre Lorde were two founders of one of history's most powerful Black liberation collectives. 

Established in 1974, the Combahee River Collective was named after Harriet Tubman’s raid on the Combahee River in 1863.  Her courage freed more than 700 enslaved people. 

The members of the Combahee River Collective created their own politics and strategies for systemic change centered on Black women’s perspectives and lived experiences. They stated, “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”

After years of intensive dialogue, writing, workshopping, and organizing, they realized their goals went beyond feminism. At the center of anti-Blackness was capitalism, the system posing the greatest threat to Black women and therefore, the world. 

Capitalism is still at the root of racial hierarchy, spiritual warfare, mass genocide, and the pandemics we’re still fighting today. 

We have the power to build collectives and communities of resistance. Our ancestors left us the blueprints.

What would a faith collective rooted in Black liberation look like?