Speaking on women’s liberation, Mary Ann Weathers concentrates on reclaiming the African heritage and rightfully having a place in the world. She willingly and enthusiastically supports the black liberation movement hoping that it will be positively receptive to all oppressed peoples.
These oppressed people that she discusses include black men, sick children and ALL women. Black women’s oppression is tripled by any of the oppressed races that include poor white women, Orientals, Indian, Mexican and Puerto Rican women, but they all face oppression on the common ground. Be it that they all have this common factor, Weathers believes that these races can construct a stronger force that can be the start of a revolution.
She focuses a lot on male superiority and how women are portrayed in the eyes of men. Women also tend to reduce their level of importance in exchange for recognition from their male counterparts acting as sex objects and holding an industrial position instead of being proactive in the workplace. We spend so much time and put all of our energy in the liberation of our men that we lose focus on ourselves and out own liberation.
The opening statement in Weather’s article was that “nobody can fight your battles for you; you have to do it yourself.” We are innately placed in a position by society and become subjective to that position, thus reinforcing our own oppression. We cannot look to anyone else to save the day but ourselves. The white man laughs at us because we are falling under his spell. Weather’s makes a very true statement in the last paragraph of her article that many people are oblivious of. The white man keeps us at one another’s throats with racism and distracts us with other issues so that we are clouded by the real issue. The dominant force is getting stronger by the minute, becoming more influential than ever and we are subconsciously making them stronger with our foolish acts. These dominant forces are getting stronger, wiser, more powerful and more wealthy than ever. The middle class is slowly but surely receding from view and the gap is widening between the rich and the poor. Before we know it, the white man is going to rule the world and we will be begging them for mercy.
The challenge is to interrupt their plan and to make a difference in the world and to end patriarchy, to end oppression; not only for the blacks under oppression but to end oppression as a whole. If you want to make change, you have to be the change you want to see. It starts with us. We have to convince poor women that they are capable because who can benefit better than them? We must come together as a whole instead of being envious of one another and fighting one another over men only to entertain them. I am all for Weather’s method of understanding and prosperity.
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