AIN’T GONNA LET NOBODY TURN ME AROUND SUNY series in New Political Science Bradley J. Macdonald, editor AIN’T GONNA LET NOBODY TURN ME AROUND Forty Years of Movement Building with BARBARA SMITH Edited by Alethia Jones and Virginia Eubanks with Barbara Smith Cover photo of Barbara Smith by Vicki Smith. Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2014 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production by Ryan Morris Marketing by Fran Keneston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Forty Years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith / Alethia Jones and Virginia Eubanks, eds., with Barbara Smith ISBN 978-1-4384-5115-2 (hc : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-5114-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-5116-9 (ebook) 2014947017 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 From Alethia For my mother, grandmother, and Angela and the sacrifices they made. For my sister, Tamara, if only . From Virginia For my second family, the feminist activist community of the Capital Region of New York, for their integrity, fearlessness, and compassion. From Barbara For my sister, Beverly, and everyone who takes a stand for justice. Contents List of Illustrations xv Foreword by Robin D. G. Kelley xvii Preface by Barbara Smith xxiii Acknowledgments xxv 1. Chronicling an Activist Life 1 Virginia Eubanks and Alethia Jones 2. Home Grown: Early Roots of Activism 13 Roots of Beloved Community 14 • Barbara Smith, “Interview by Loretta Ross,” 14 Voices of Feminism Oral History Project (Smith and Ross 2003) • Interview with Barbara Ransby 21 • Box: “Klunder, Bruce W.,” The Encyclopedia of 22 Cleveland History (1997) College Life and Activism 26 • Barbara Smith, “Interview by Loretta Ross,” 26 Voices of Feminism Oral History Project (Smith and Ross 2003) • Interviews with Barbara Ransby, Matt Richardson, 28 and Alethia Jones vii viii Contents What Would It Mean to Be a Lesbian? 35 • Barbara Smith, “Interview by Loretta Ross,” 36 Voices of Feminism Oral History Project (Smith and Ross 2003) • “Taking the Home Out of Homophobia: Black Lesbian 37 Health,” Jewelle Gomez and Barbara Smith (1990) • Barbara Smith, “Interview by Loretta Ross,” Voices of 38 Feminism Oral History Project (Smith and Ross 2003) 3. Building Black Feminism 41 A New Era of Black Feminism 42 • Interview with Virginia Eubanks 43 • “ National Black Feminist Organization Statement 44 of Purpose,” National Black Feminist Organization (1973) • “ The Combahee River Collective Statement,” 45 Combahee River Collective ([1977] 1979) • Interviews with Kimberly Springer, Barbara Ransby, 52 Alethia Jones, and Virginia Eubanks Black Feminist Organizing Tactics 60 • “ Black Feminism: A Movement of Our Own,” 61 Barbara Smith ([1984] 1997) • “Who Is Killing Us,” Terrion Williamson (2012) 65 • Interview with Kimberly Springer 71 Building Linkages across Difference 74 • “ Face-to-Face, Day-to-Day—Racism CR [Consciousness 74 Raising] Guidelines for Women’s Groups,” Tia Cross, Freada Klein, Barbara Smith, and Beverly Smith (1979) • “ Breaking the Silence: A Conversation in 77 Black and White,” Laura Sperazi (1978) • Interview with Virginia Eubanks 82 Contents ix Unfinished Business 83 • “Establishing Black Feminism,” Barbara Smith (2000) 84 • Box: “African American Women in Defense of Ourselves,” 88 Elsa Barkley Brown, Deborah K. King, and Barbara Ransby (1991) • “Black Women Still in Defense of Ourselves,” 90 Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (2011) • Interviews with Kimberly Springer, Virginia Eubanks, 91 and Alethia Jones 4. Building Black Women’s Studies 97 More Than Academic 98 • “ Doing Research on Black American Women, or; 99 All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave,” Barbara Smith (1975) • “ The Politics of Black Women’s Studies,” 100 Gloria Hull and Barbara Smith (1982) • “‘ Beautiful, Needed, Mysterious’: Review of Sula 106 by Toni Morrison,” Barbara Smith (1974) • Interview with Beverly Guy-Sheftall 109 “Irrevocable Acts”: Navigating Dangerous Waters 115 • “ Black Women Writers and Feminism: Toward a 115 Black Feminist Criticism” (Bowles 1979) • “Black Women Writers and Feminism Question 125 & Answer Session” (Bowles 1979) • Interview with Beverly Guy-Sheftall 129 Truth Telling in the Academy 132 • “Racism and Women’s Studies,” Barbara Smith (1980) 133 • Interview with Virginia Eubanks 136 x Contents 5. Building Kitchen Table Press 139 Black in Print 141 • “Black Women and Publishing,” Modern Language 141 Association Commission on the Status of Women in the Profession (1976) • “Our Stories: Women of Color,” Barbara Smith (1984) 144 • Interview with Matt Richardson 146 Our Books Were Lifelines 152 • “A Press of Our Own: Kitchen Table: Women 153 of Color Press,” Barbara Smith (1989) • Interviews with Matt Richardson, Barbara Ransby, 156 and Kimberly Springer • Box: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press titles 1983–1992 157 and The Freedom Organizing Pamphlet Series The Cost of Independence 166 • “Packing Boxes and Editing Manuscripts: Women 166 of Color in Feminist Publishing,” Sojourner Editorial Collective (1993) • Interview with Matt Richardson 169 6. Building Multi-Issue Movements 173 Forging Coalitions: Fighting Homophobia, 174 Racism, and Classism • “Soul on Hold,” Barbara Smith (1985) 175 • “Blacks and Gays: Healing the Great Divide,” 179 Barbara Smith (1993) • “Where Has Gay Liberation Gone? An Interview with 184 Barbara Smith,” Amy Gluckman and Betsy Reed (1997) Contents xi • “ Will People of Color Pay the Price? A Statement by 187 People of Color in Support of the Ad Hoc Committee for an Open Process,” Ted Beck, Mandy Carter, Chandra L. Ford, Kara Keeling, and Barbara Smith (1999) • “ Organizing in Albany: Justice for Diallo,” 189 Barbara Smith (2000) • Interviews with Joo-Hyun Kang and Kimberly Springer 191 • Box: “Please Don’t Fan Flames of Bigotry,” 196 Barbara Smith (2011) • Box: “It’s a Diverse World, and That Includes Sexuality,” 197 Barbara Smith (2011) • “ A New LGBT Politics Seeks to Marry Issues, 199 Not Just People,” Jamilah King (2012) Embraced by the Black Radical Congress 203 • “ The Struggle Continues: Setting a Black Liberation Agenda 203 for the 21st Century: Call for Participation in the Black Radical Congress,” BRC Organizing Committee (1998) • “ Dialogue between Barbara Smith and Kimberly 204 Springer,” Democracy Now! (1998) • Box: “Black Radical Congress Principles of Unity,” 205 BRC Organizing Committee (1998) • Interviews with Barbara Ransby and Alethia Jones 208 7. Building Progressive Urban Politics 213 A Movement Builder on the Campaign Trail 214 • “ Black Feminist Activism: My Next Chapter,” 214 Barbara Smith (2012) • Interviews with Vera “Mike” Michelson 216 and Joo-Hyun Kang xii Contents In the Belly of the Beast 223 • Interviews with Vera “Mike” Michelson, Alethia Jones, 223 and Virginia Eubanks • Box: Flyer for Albany Neighborhoods First 224 • Box: “WAMC Commentary on Gun Violence,” 230 Barbara Smith, July 21, 2008 • Box: SNUG rally flyer 232 • Box: “WAMC Commentary on Education,” Barbara Smith, 240 November 6, 2008 Radical Visions versus Reformist Institutions 241 • Interviews with Alethia Jones, Vera “Mike” Michelson, 241 Barbara Ransby, and Virginia Eubanks • Box: Peace and Unity Resolution 245 • Box: Immigrant Rights Resolution 246 8. “ Took Root, Bore Fruit”: 253 Legacies and Futures of a Black Feminist Life Sheroes and Foremothers 254 • Interview with Alexis Pauline Gumbs 254 • Box: University of Alabama letter from Robin Boylorn 256 • Box: “Ella’s Daughters’ Seven Sisters Campaign,” 260 Ella’s Daughters (n.d.) The Legacy of Kitchen Table Press 263 and Black Women’s Studies • Interview with Alexis Pauline Gumbs 263 • Box: University of Alabama letter from Lisa C. Moore 266 • Box: University of Alabama letter from Sheri Davis-Faulkner 267 Contents xiii The Legacy of Combahee: Identity Politics 268 and Interlocking Oppressions • Interview with Alexis Pauline Gumbs 268 • Box: “What Sistas Want, What Sistas Believe: Black Feminist 270 Twelve Point Plan,” Black Feminist Working Group (2011) • Interviews with Virginia Eubanks and Alethia Jones 271 The Legacy of Combahee’s Organizing: 277 Coalitions for Conscious Collective Solutions • Interview with Alexis Pauline Gumbs 277 • Box: “UBUNTU Statement of Purpose,” 281 UBUNTU (2012) • “ Occupy Wall Street: Black Voices for Economic 284 Justice Must Be Heard,” Ron Daniels (n.d.) Black Feminist Futures 287 • Interviews with Alexis Pauline Gumbs, 287 Alethia Jones, and Virginia Eubanks • Box: “Crunk Letter to Patriarchy,” 290 Crunk Feminist Collective (2012) Editorial Note 293 How We Built This Book 295 Bibliography 297 Interviews Commissioned for This Volume 307 Interviewer and Contributor Biographies 309 Index 313 Illustrations Figures 2.1. Barbara Smith and Beverly Smith, circa 1956, Cleveland, Ohio 20 2.2. The body of the Reverend Bruce W. Klunder, 1964 23 2.3. “ Board to Build More Segregated Schools,” selection 24 from CORE Newsletter, spring 1964 3.1. “Eleven Black Women: Why Did They Die?” pamphlet 66–67 4.1. Barbara Smith at the Berkshire Women’s History Conference 101 in 1978 5.1. Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press spring 1987 catalogue 147 5.2. Announcement of Esta Puente, Mi Espalda, the Spanish- 156 language translation of This Bridge Called My Back, 1988 5.3. 1986 Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press brochure 159 featuring the Freedom Organizing pamphlet series 6.1. In Our Own Voices billboard: “I Am Gay, and This Is Where I Pray” 194 7.1. Map of the Fourth Ward of Albany, New York 221 7.2. Campaign palm card: “I Speak Up and I Get Results” 222 7.3. Smith at Albany rally for striking taxi workers 239 xv Foreword I’m a part of the women’s movement that doesn’t really get that much play, even to this day, because it’s the part of the women’s movement that .