The Faces of Black Feminism: Revitalizing Black Women’s Voices in the 21st Century

“Black women have been feminists since before the word ‘feminist’ existed,” said Aiesha Turman, a scholar-practitioner based in Brooklyn, N.Y. These words were uttered during an interactive panel in November open to the public which was hosted by the Brooklyn Museum on behalf of MAPP International of New York City and 651 Arts of Brooklyn, N.Y. The panel was titled: Beyond Binaries and Boxes and consisted of 5 women who are current contributors to the ever-growing space that Black women take up within feminism currently. Panels and multimedia articles on feminism are popular in specific communities, yet at times, Black women are left out of many conversations on feminism in the 21^st century which is problematic. 


There are many Millennials and women of Generation Y contributing to the voice of Black feminism on social media, on online self-publishing sites and on behalf of media platforms or at companies in which they work on a daily basis.

Mainstream feminism’s method of storytelling at times rarely highlights the trailblazers within the revitalized Black feminist movement in Western culture. Their contributions to the movement carry on the messages of Black feminism which the originators Alice Walker, Audre Lorde and bell hooks created years ago.

“I did not realize my feminism was ‘black feminism’ until law school. It was not until I encountered ‘mainstream feminism’ and its' woeful lack of intersectionality of the Black experience,” says Hannah Brooks, 25, Junior Law Associate at The Law Offices of Coleman & Brown, LLC of Chicago, Ill. Brooks explains that to her Black feminism is about being conscious of the lived experiences of Black women globally. “I want women to understand ways to be critical of the world around them regardless of how they personally identify, feminism allows for several ways to do that,” said Brooks.

“Women are already a subculture but to be a Black woman is a completely marginalized status in society that more often than not needs are not met financially, politically, socially or personally,” said Morgan Grain, 22, a graduate journalism student at NYU from Atlanta, Ga. Grain’s strong affection for Black women drives her passion for Black feminism. Her ultimate mission in life is to narrate the stories of Black women since she believes at times we are not leading the dialogue on our own personal stories and histories. “I think our focus should not only be how do we ‘re-center’ the discussion around feminism to its’ core, [the] true values,” said Grain.  


“In order to understand white supremacy and the way it has manifested itself in Black life, we must also understand patriarchy. To really get to the heart of what ills America, one must account for sexism and racism,” said a 26-year-old educator in DC. The HBCU advocate and thought provocateur also known as Anti-Intellect solidifies his spot on the list due to this willingness to tackle white supremacy and tackle its’ origins in reference to Black women and men. He believes in the ideal of Black women being triply oppressed and works to include feminist analysis and race analysis in the classroom.

Visit here for the multimedia list of the top curators of Black feminism currently.