“U.S. Black Feminism In Transnational Context” by Patricia Hill Collins

Patricia Hill Collins argues the importance of coalitional politics and an understanding of where we operate in the global matrix of domination. To be the best feminist, Collins insists, one must understand in what ways they act as oppressed or oppressor and work to uplift those they oppress. Collins’s call for self-reflection and an examination of how people interact in a global context is extremely important because it is so easy for people who are subjugated in one aspect to paint themselves as only a victim, not a perpetrator, of violence. When one comes to a complete understanding of how they either benefit from or suffer under systems of racial, economic, national, sexual oppression they are able to act in a way that will benefit the liberation of themselves and others. Patricia Hill Collins uses the term “matrix of domination” to describe the way intersecting oppressions are formed and maintained both on a national and global level. “Matrix of domination” shows how one can actively oppress (or benefit from the oppression of) another group and be a victim of oppression at the same time. Collins also uses the term “patriarchal violence.” Patriarchal violence in the home occurs because of a belief that violence from a powerful/authoritative figure onto weaker individuals to enact control is necessary and acceptable, this is very similar to bell hooks’s ideas as expressed in All About Love: New Visions. Patriarchal violence engenders abuse against adults at the hands of partners and children at the hands of adults. “[U.S. Black feminism] occupies its own space that reflects the privileges of US citizenship juxtaposed to the second-class nature of that citizenship” (Collins 235). I often see people who are considered second-class citizens in the US struggle to see that they are not the lowest of the low in the world and that the things that they do to get ahead often negatively affect the lives of those in other countries. This sentence applies not only to US Black feminism but the experiences of Black Americans as a whole. Collins really emphasizes the importance of understanding your place in the world.

Collins, Patricia H. BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Second ed., New York, Routledge, 2000.