By Gospel Express Staff

As we celebrate Women’s History Month this March, we find ourselves reflecting not only on the remarkable achievements of women throughout American history but also on the profound relationship between the women’s rights movement and Black liberation struggles. This connection represents one of the most significant yet often overlooked patterns in American social progress: how advancements for African Americans have historically paved the way for, or moved in tandem with, expanded rights for women.

The Origins of Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month began as a modest local celebration in Santa Rosa, California. In 1978, the Education Task Force of Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women initiated a “Women’s History Week” centered around International Women’s Day on March 8. The idea quickly gained traction, and by 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week.

The movement continued to grow, with Congress passing resolutions supporting Women’s History Week through the early 1980s. In 1987, after petitioning by the National Women’s History Project (now the National Women’s History Alliance), Congress designated March as Women’s History Month, providing an expanded opportunity to honor women’s contributions to American history and society.

The Abolitionist Movement and Women’s Suffrage

The interconnection between racial justice and women’s rights in America dates back to the pre-Civil War era. Many early women’s rights advocates, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, emerged from the abolitionist movement where they fought against slavery. These women recognized parallels between the oppression of enslaved people and their own lack of legal rights.

The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, widely regarded as the official beginning of the women’s suffrage movement, occurred in the context of growing abolitionist sentiment. Frederick Douglass, the renowned Black abolitionist, attended the convention and spoke powerfully in favor of women’s right to vote.

However, this relationship became strained after the Civil War when the 15th Amendment granted voting rights to Black men but not to women. The controversy led to a painful split in the women’s movement, with some suffragists, including Stanton and Anthony, opposing the amendment because it excluded women. Their opposition sometimes included racist rhetoric, revealing the complex and imperfect nature of these intersecting movements.

Constitutional Rights: A Delayed Parallel

The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited denying a citizen the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” It would take another 50 years before women gained similar constitutional protection with the 19th Amendment in 1920, which prohibited denying the right to vote on the basis of sex.

It’s crucial to acknowledge that despite these constitutional amendments, many Black Americans—especially in the South—remained effectively disenfranchised through poll taxes, literacy tests, and violent intimidation until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Similarly, many women of color found their voting rights obstructed even after the 19th Amendment’s passage, highlighting how progress often came in stages and was experienced unequally across different communities.

Civil Rights and Women’s Liberation

Perhaps the most visible parallel between movements for racial and gender equality came in the mid-20th century. The modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s provided both inspiration and a template for the Women’s Liberation Movement that gained momentum in the 1960s and 1970s.

Civil rights activists developed effective strategies of nonviolent protest, legal challenges, and mass mobilization that women’s rights advocates later adapted. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin, was amended during floor debate to include sex as a protected category (in Title VII), thanks to the efforts of female legislators like Representative Martha Griffiths.

Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique,” published in 1963, is often credited with sparking the second wave of feminism, appearing just as the civil rights movement was reaching its peak visibility. The National Organization for Women (NOW), founded in 1966, explicitly modeled some of its approach on the NAACP’s successful legal strategy.

Black Women at the Intersection

At the heart of these intertwined movements were Black women who experienced both racial and gender discrimination. Figures like Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell, and Fannie Lou Hamer stood at the intersection of these struggles, fighting for both racial justice and women’s rights.

In her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech delivered at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, Sojourner Truth challenged both racism and sexism, highlighting how Black women were often excluded from the Victorian ideals of womanhood used to justify denying women equal rights.

A century later, during the Civil Rights Movement, Fannie Lou Hamer faced brutal violence for her voting rights activism in Mississippi. As a founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, she challenged both racial and gender hierarchies within the political system.

Contemporary Intersections

The pattern of intertwined progress continued into recent decades. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 strengthened protections against employment discrimination for both racial minorities and women. The Black Lives Matter movement, founded by three Black women—Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—has emphasized intersectionality and inspired renewed activism around gender justice issues.

Similarly, the #MeToo movement, though initially created by Black activist Tarana Burke in 2006, gained worldwide momentum in 2017, highlighting how movements often build upon earlier groundwork laid by Black women and other women of color.

Celebrating the Full Spectrum of Women’s History

As we commemorate Women’s History Month, it becomes increasingly important to recognize the diverse experiences of women across racial, ethnic, class, and other identity lines. Understanding the historical relationship between movements for racial justice and gender equality helps us appreciate how social progress in America has often occurred through coalitions and parallel struggles that, despite tensions and setbacks, have ultimately advanced the rights of multiple marginalized groups.

By acknowledging this intertwined history, we honor the full spectrum of women’s contributions to American society and recognize that the path toward greater equality has never been linear or simple, but rather a complex journey of interconnected movements pushing America toward its highest ideals.

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The Gospel Express Newspaper is dedicated to sharing stories of faith, inspiration, history, and community across the region.