Memphis

Black women have always been at the forefront of the struggle for racial equality and justice. Despite that their role and contributions have often been overlooked, Black women’s resilience within the civil rights and the Women’s Movement remains pivotal. Black women always highlighted the intersection of gender, race, and class for the understanding of oppression and inequality. Their activism as grassroots leaders spans several generations and defines the quest for humanity and freedom.

As early as the late 19th century, African American women founded the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. The organization encompassed smaller local organizations and tackled issues of racial injustice, civil rights, lynching, and Jim Crow legislation. In 1909, a group of African American women and men founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which focused on battling racial violence against Black people and fought against segregation in education. Black women were particularly active as grassroots organizers and leaders within the organization.

African American women held crucial roles in the emergence of the modern civil rights movement as demonstrators, leaders, organizers, and theorists. A turning point in the civil rights struggle was Rosa Parks’s refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a bus and accept segregation in public transportation.