We are pleased to announce a special issue of Souls to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Black feminist manifesto, The Combahee River Collective (CRC) statement.
COMBAHEE at 40: NEW CONVERSATIONS AND DEBATES IN BLACK FEMINISM
Co-Editors:
Barbara Ransby, University of Illinois at Chicago, and President of the National Women’s Studies Association
Barbara Smith, co-author of the 1977 Combahee River Collective statement
Margo Okazawa-Rey, San Francisco State University, and member of the Combahee River Collective
The articles in this issue take up the divergent themes and issues addressed by the work of the CRC: reproductive justice, self-determination, violence, healing, radical politics, and resistance. Two of the articles offer analyses of the CRC as a political project. The group-authored essay on intersectionality in the Black Panther Party mirrors the kind of political and intellectual collaboration that defined CRC. At this juncture of political conservatism and unapologetic racism and misogyny at the highest levels of government, this example of the resilience of Black women’s organizing reminds us of what is possible, even under dire conditions. Today, as queer Black feminists are leading from the center of the Movement for Black Lives, we can feel that the spirit of Combahee is alive and well. Hopefully the amazing articles in this special issue will not only spur debate and inclusive practices of remembering, but will also spur readers to collective action.
