This week’s reading was really great, and I also love the fact that it is all about intersections. “The Combahee River Collective Statement (1977)” issued by The Combahee River Collective is an amazing and interesting book to read. It talks about the “Multiple oppression & sexual oppression within the black community and racism that is within the wider feminist movement.” From the beginning of the reading, it talked about how a collective of Black feminists have been meeting together since 1974 and getting involved in political work within their groups including partnering with other organizations and movements. These feminists were very committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression. “The Combahee River Collective” brings forth the idea that black feminism is “the logical political movement that all women of color face.” The movement’s genesis surfaced out after its members’ dissatisfaction with other movements for Black Liberation “particularly that of the 1960s and 1970s; Civil Rights, Black Nationalism, and the Black Panthers,” which they see as racist toward their female peers. The Black feminists let their voice out for social change concerning Black Lesbians and all women of color to be heard. A classmate snapshot from Raquel Hernandez shows us some of the social justice movement these women fought for in order to belong in the community. In their snapshot, we see a list of the social justice these feminist women were trying to change like seeking politics & representation, law & justice, right to their bodies & sexuality, health & wellness, less violence & more power, etc… These black women needed a sense of belonging and the right to do what they want. 

The Combahee River Collective Statement also makes an emphasis on Black women’s relationship to their own oppression and how it has shaped their identities like the said, “We realize that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for our Liberation are us”. Through this embodiment of identity politics, especially their queer experience, they will encourage a politics that focuses on the important need to Liberate Black women. At some point, the Combahee River Collective was unafraid to build on their politics. Through these responsibilities to self-criticism, they “question whether Lesbian separatism is an adequate and progressive political analysis and strategy for those who practice it since it so completely denies any but the sexual sources of women’s oppression, negating the facts of class and race” and acknowledging “the psychological toll of being a Black woman and the difficulties this presents in reaching political consciousness and doing political work which can never be underestimated.” 

The documentary “Paris is Burning (1990)” talks about drag queens that lived in New York and their house culture. It shows how different groups compete in balls walk a runway as if they were fashion models. These queens were judged based on several things: they must be talented dancers, they must be wearing the finest of fashion, and they must look like the gender they are claiming to be. They are also judged on whether they can also portray this gender outside of the world for people to see. A lot of people were interviewed, some were the leading light of the ball scene. One of the people interviewed was Angie X’travaganza who was the founder of the House of X’travaganza. Angie was a transgender singer & dancer and a superstar within the ball scene. Angie talked about how they adopted several street children who later became influential performers. The documentary also talked about Pepper Labeija who was also as famous as Angie. She was a fashion designer and was basically behind many of the costumes worn by contestants. Most of her performances had an Egyptian theme on them. Each of the main performers in the documentary talked about their lives and explains the culture of the balls, and their importance to the LGBTQ+ and it also explores gender roles. An important element of the film is the view/study of how AIDS affected the leading performers and the ball contestants. At the end of the film, we see the news of Venus’s murder reaching Angie; Venus was strangled to death and Angie believed that it was a client who became enraged with her and killed her. Many of the contestants in the balls were all disowned by their families, which was why they had many houses popping up. Each of these houses served as a second home for those who were rejected by their family or suffered homophobia at home. Paris is Burning gives an intimate picture of rival fashion houses from contests for trophies to house mothers offering support in a world filled with homophobia, racism, and poverty.