Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment

“Oppression describes any unjust situation where, systematically and over a long period of time, one group denies another group access to the resources of society.”

The oppression of Black women is the central theme of Collins’s book. This quote touches on a key aspect of oppression, namely, its systematic nature over long periods of time.

“Social theories expressed by women emerging from these diverse groups typically do not arise from the rarefied atmosphere of their imaginations.”

In contrast to dominant epistemologies, Black feminist thought focuses on lived experience and multiple viewpoints. Collins argues that Black feminist thought reflects women's efforts to come to terms with their lived experiences within intersecting oppressions of race, gender, class, sexuality, and nationality.

“Although racial segregation is now organized differently than in prior eras […] being Black and female in the United States continues to expose African-American women to certain common experiences.”

This quote focuses on the collective identity of Black women. For Collins, Black feminist thought can empower Black women by affirming, rearticulating, and publicly expressing a Black feminist consciousness.