R1/ Excerpt 9: 42:50 – 46:41
And so I got home with my daughter and the house was dark. I said, Leroy what’s going on? And he said, I’m so hungry, I’m so hungry…..I said, you hungry? I left a whole dinner for you. “Yeah but I was waiting for you to come and put it on the plate.” That was the last day – last morning that I fixed dinner for him.
The above quote is an excerpt from the interview with Alreda Dortch Williams, one of the founders for A.B.L.E at Knox. In the above section of the interview Dortch recounts her relationship with her ex-husband, who expected her to be a traditional housewife, and take the burden of household tasks even after she got a job. It seems like Dortch’s husband was pushing certain gender roles onto her in an attempt to feel empowered, or to appear more masculine and be seen as the “provider.”
I find it ironic that some Black men, who are aware of what oppression and subjugation from an oppressor group feel like, still choose to uphold patriarchy and make Black women feel the same way. I could relate it to the video we watched in class about June Jordan explaining the sexism endured by women in the Black Panther party and how they were expected to walk behind men. This explains why the Combahee River Collective that we read was so important. It addresses the intersection of race, gender, class and sexuality. It was a response to the mainstream feminist and black power movements for not addressing the specific experiences and problems of black lesbian women. It is important to address intersectionality for there to be progress.
Great connections across such diverse readings, Lyebah!