Collins, Patricia Hill. “Black Feminist Thought.” In

In Patricia Hill Collins’ piece, “Black Feminist Thought” she discusses and examines the intersectionality of feminism, as well as the lack thereof, when it comes to the inclusion of minority races within the movement. As one can see by the title of the piece, Collins makes a point early on to lean her weight into that of the Black Feminist movement and the unique set of circumstances which accompany it. As she explains, “within the overarching contradiction, U.S. Black women encounter a distinctive set of social practices that accompany [their] particular history within a unique matrix of domination”⁶⁷. This is a critical statement when it comes to the examination of Black Feminism and the progression of the movement through the inclusive feminism which has come to blockade the progression of the social movement. Unique to Black feminism is the acknowledgement of “race, class, gender, and sexuality [as] mutually constructing systems of oppression,” necessary tactic to bring awareness to, as so often in the trends of modern day feminism, there is a lack of response to these brutal social constructions⁶⁸. Collins piece brings a sense of awareness to the lacking aspects of such a powerful critical movement – and one that plays so largely into the formation of modern day society. One can see, through Collins piece, that there is a necessity in feminism for intersectionality, or else the movement falls into its history to a point where there is stagnancy to its efforts; by ignoring our historical inaccuracies and ignoring huge populations of women, we are denying what the true principles of the feminist movement are about.