Call it the great-grandchild of feminism and womanism, Black Woman’s Empowerment (BWE for short) is a natural outgrowth of ideals brought forth by bell hooks “Aren’t I a Woman,” Paula Giddings’ “When and Where I Enter,” and Jacqueline Jones’ “Labor of Love” among many others. It’s filling the gap between how race and gender issues impact black women, tossed in with some “we’re mad as hell and we’re not taking it anymore!” and a dab of interracial dating advocacy. Add the virulence of blogging, Twitter and You Tube, and you have an honest-to-goodness groundswell of activism that goes out of the classroom and becomes accessible to everyone.
But these loose confederations of bloggers are going beyond just being angry about the lack of available and marriageable black men and the propensity for them not to marry the mothers of their children, or feeling salty about how black women are seen in the media as Mammy/Jezebel/Bitter Beyotch (a la Pepsi Superbowl commercial) or being subjugated as mules. “BWE,” I believe is the next paradigmatic shift from recognizing and discussing the issues to actively changing, engaging and moving black women further into better lives,” says one blog commentator that goes by the name, ‘Monique.’
Instead of heading to the streets, fists pumping and bras burning, the protests have transitioned to the written word. They are quietly, and without much fanfare, dismantling traditional notions and freely giving advice to black women about how to live better and happier, blog by blog, tweet by tweet.
“Whenever you get a room full of black women, you automatically fuel discussions on the issues that affect us most. Social media is like that room. We’ve truly gotten the opportunity to hear each other, speak to each other, and work toward solving our issues,” says writer and film maker, Arielle Loren.
One of those “issues” primarily has to do with the dissatisfaction and hurt some black women feel from black men whom they say do little to protect and provide for them, while at the same time exploiting their resources and support without getting much in return. “Black men act as free agents in the presence of opportunity, not as people who place race concerns and race priorities in the forefront of their thoughts,” says an an online fact sheet describing BWE in detail.
While black women have always “held up the torch” for the black community in both activism, religiosity and day-to-day familial support, thousands of women are getting tired. “There may be a sense of fatigue, I think that comes from that sense of support and uplift not being reciprocated,” says professor B. Afeni McNeely Cobham, Ph.D., a visiting assistant professor in the department of African and African-American Studies, Metropolitan State College. Dr. Cobham also points to the pervasiveness of pop culture and how the notion of interracial dating and mating is becoming a viable option reflected in show’s like “What Chilli Wants.”
“Men are attempting to completely take our feminine power away from us in many insidious ways. Blaming us for the rise in single mothers, for the breakdown in the family unit is completely unfair. Young women give up themselves to have a boyfriend who is totally unworthy of them and allow them to cheapen and lessen their impact on the world,” says Brenda, an avid writer and BWE contributor.
But BWE has no shortage of critics from both black women and men. The BWE movement has been criticized for promoting interracial marriage, hating black men, and selfishly abandoning the black community. “Black men lie that women interested in feminism and womanism are man haters. When we get empowered, black men don’t like it. Then you have these black women who have a backlash against it because they’re trying to please black men. Deep down, they’re just doormats,” says Kola Boof, best-selling author and writer of the upcoming book, “The Hot Part of the Bible.”
Opponents use the same vehicles of communication to get their say too. One such male blogger calls virtually all highly-trafficed bloggers of the BWE movement “sellout black women” who worship and seek the validation of white men, and believes that most black women are wholly undesirable by any race, including black men. One particularly vile site called, Black Men Vent, shows a series of African American celebrities coupled with white women with a quote: “Are Black women doing something wrong for so many Black men to seek White women to be his queen?” And that’s about as tame a quote we can use for this piece.
“I think there have always been issues and separation between black men and black women. Social media has made these issues more visible and given us the opportunity to address this issue. But the larger issue is how we have raised our children in teaching them what it means to be a man and what it is to be a woman,” says Morgane Richardson, founder of Refuse the Silence, who speaks out about what it’s like to go to a largely white, elite college as a person of color, and was recently featured in More magazine.
Could it also be that black men are beginning to feel threatened by competition from rainbeaus of all race, color, and creed?
“Many Black men are deeply fearful of losing their soft place to fall. My philosophy is that men from every race should have to compete for our affections on equal footing. He receives no more or less consideration for sharing the same skin-tone. Compare this to managing employees or raising children -favoritism breeds entitled brats!” says Cherilyn Smith, author of “Black Women Deserve Better” and operator of a blog with the same name.
Christelyn D. Karazin is the co-author of “Swirling: How to Date, Mate and Relate Mixing Race Culture and Creed” (to be released February 2012), and runs a blog, www.beyondblackwhite.com, dedicated to women of color who are interested and or involved in interracial and intercultural relationships. She is also the founder and organizer of “No Wedding, No Womb,” an initiative to find solutions to the 72 percent out-of-wedlock rate in the black community.
