#blackfeministwriters

[centerednscholared]

I wrote this book over 15 years ago. It's a book of short stories about issues on black women that mattered to me. This particular story, "The Grass Is Simply Green" is exposing the experimentation of drugs on black women in low income communities. Back then I didn't know this was activist work. I was just writing stories about things that I loved protecting - Black Women. #TrueNotNew #africanawomensstudies #blackgirlstudies #shortstories #fictionwriting #literature #blackwomenwriters #blackfemininenarrative #blackfeministwriters #artasactivism https://www.instagram.com/p/BxkDb9xDCDU/?igshid=1rahp5zv6e2pu

[blackfemmovement-blog]

Annotated Bibliography Source 3

Smith, Barbara. "Toward a Black Feminist Criticism." Toward a Black Feminist Criticism. N.p.1977. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. 

In this essay, Barbara Smith sheds light on Black feminist literature and Black lesbian writers as she believed that neither were talked about by critics of any gender, race or sexual identity. Smith argues that Black women lead invisible lives because of that lack of coverage and that if a powerful feminist movement emerged then there would be a space for a black feminist movement to come in and be heard. Smith argued that the only way to achieve real validity among society for Black women is for their literary works to be critiqued. She said,  " For books to be real and remembered they have to be talked about. For books to be understood they must be examined in such a way that the basic intentions of the writers are at least considered". This argument states that because Black feminist and lesbian writings were not being talked about that meant that there were no opportunities for these writers to be remembered, be acknowledged, and therefore have their messages be solidified as legitimate issues. While she begins the essay stating that Black feminist writers and Black lesbian writers are not granted criticism, and therefore acknowledgment on their writings, she later goes on to call out the Black male authors who did critique these women and their writing (mostly during the male-centered Black Arts Movement) by saying that their critiques do not give these writers validity but actually take it away through their blatant sexism. This essay is a call to action from Smith to Black women to rally together to solidify a Black feminist movement so that they will no longer lead "invisible lives".