Thoughts from '' Women, Race& class'' book by Angela Y.Davis

 This is one of the books that I need to read again and again, to write about properly. It leaves you longing to read more about the topics addressed. And it definitely leaves you with many references to get into. So here I am sharing some thoughts from it anyways, till I read it again for sure.

The book is a study about the Feminism movement in the United States; contains thirteen essays each tackles a different topic concerning feminism.

In the beginning, the author lays down the condition of black women in slavery, and their suffering which was attributed not only to their race but also because of their sex. An eye-opening topic in that essay, is about the sexual violence black women endured as a result of the intersectionality of sex, race and class. An important raised topic also, is the use of rape as a punishing method, and here she explains that rape as a validated act attributed to power and supremacy, specially white supremacy. And as we are speaking of rape, we have to mention the myth of black men being rapists and how they propagated that to validate the lynching acts.

Another aspect of the oppression black women faced is how they were exploited to breed to provide the white supremacist a labour force. And here and thought the book, the author included testimonies of black people who endured that or witnessed their beloved one does.

An elaborating topic (I don't know what is not in the book !) is the great contribution of black women to the labour force and yet how much less they were paid in relation to their male counterparts.

Moving on to talking about industrialization and capitalism and how it altered the image and life of women. From one side it created the stereotype of femininity and made being a woman synonymous with housewife, and how subsequently that was perceived as being inferior. And From another side, how it affected the women labour force, as much of what they were doing in homes, moved to factories and corporates.

Lastly but not the least, there was an essay about women´s reproductive rights movement, and how it was exploited on the expense of women of colour. It was shocking to read that the federal funding for abortion was withdrawn and instead sterilization was free on demand, and specifically for women of colour, which what was obviously intended as a form of ethnic cleansing. She also addressed how reproductive rights are related the ability of women to practice their political rights.

 These are just a couple of ideas mentioned in the essays. It is a really condensed book, and I don't have much to say about it other than it is brilliant. The writing style of course and the topics of essays are great. I really liked that Angela Davis included testimonies from real people who bear witnessed different incidents in the book, and it was really moving. I would recommend this book to everyone who wants to know more in depth about the feminism movement in US. But, not for someone who wants a light read and not an academic condensed book, still I consider it necessary.