Coined in 1990, by Aishah Shahidah Simmons, AfroLez®femcentric defines the culturally conscious role of women who identify as Afrocentric, Lesbian/Queer, AND Feminist.
In 2006, I wrote “The War Against Black Women and The Making of NO!” which was published in Color Violence: The INCITE! Anthology. While the essay specifically focuses on intra-racial rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetuated against Black women in Black communities, there are many similarities to domestic violence. It is deeply disturbing that so many Black people are justifiably outraged about the relentless forms of white supremacist violence perpetuated against Black men. And yet, when it comes to male supremacist violence against Black women, many of those same folks (men AND woman) who understand racism/white supremacy can’t get comprehend/get a handle on misogyny/sexism/patriarchy. #WTF
EXCERPT: “What I find most interesting is that too many Black men, male-identified Black women, and progressive anti-racist White people, are unable to step outside the awful reality of many Black men’s lives to see and hear the physical, emotional, psychological, and psychic pain that Black women experience at both the hands of institutional White racism and at the hands of Black men, who are their fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins, husbands, boyfriends, comrades, and friends. Fortunately, I’ve never been beat by the police, and I’ve never been incarcerated. However, whenever I hear a story about a Black man being beat or murdered by the police or about a Black man unjustly incarcerated, I am not only enraged, I am called to action. In my ongoing conversations with many of my Diasporic African, Arab, South Asian, Latina, Indigenous, feminist/womanist sistah-friends living in the United States, in Canada, and in Europe, I know I’m not alone with these feelings and fears…
And yet, very unfortunately, when it comes to rape, sexual assault, misogyny, sexual harassment, and other forms of violence perpetuated against women of color at the hands of men of color, men of color are too often silent. Instead of taking responsibility, more often than not, men of color want to spend time and energy on focusing the blame on women of color for the sexual violence that they experience.
If racism, in all of its violent manifestations, ended right this second, African and African American women, Arab women, Asian women, Pacific Islander women, Latinas, South Asian Women, Indigenous women would not be safe. Until African and African American men, Arab men, Asian men, Pacific Islander Men, Latinos, South Asian Men, Indigenous men take up the issue of rape, sexual assault, misogyny, sexual harassment and other forms gender based violence that happen every second of every day, with the same vigilance with which racism, xenophobia, colonialism, enslavement, police brutality, state sanctioned violence, and incarceration are addressed, communities of color will never be whole…will never be healthy…will never be safe…” ~ Aishah Shahidah Simmons