ABSTRACT
Chapter 2, “Black Musical Feminism,” introduces the concept of “Black musical feminism,” which is a framework for identifying and analyzing the long tradition of African American women’s musical expressions of Black women’s empowerment, a Black womenfolk and Black mother wit-informed worldview, Black womanhood, Black sisterhood, and Black women’s simultaneous commitment to racial justice, gender justice, and economic justice. Here, the theory and praxis of the Black Women’s Liberation Movement will be discussed with an eye on the ways it, whether directly or indirectly, influenced the tenor of Black women’s soul, funk, and disco and, vice versa, the ways that Black women’s soul, funk, and disco, in turn, served as a musical mouthpiece for the movement. If, indeed, “music is more than merely music” for many, if not most, African Americans (especially those actively involved in social, political, and cultural movements), when, where, why, and how the unique relationship between Black women’s popular music and Black women’s popular movements developed are key questions. The chapter asks and answers the questions: How was the Black Women’s Liberation Movement’s politics and emphasis on racial, gender, and economic justice expressed through the work of African American women musicians, especially soul, funk, and disco artists? What is Black musical feminism? How was the Black musical feminism of the Black Women’s Liberation Movement influenced by, and how did it influence, the Black Arts Movement and the Feminist Art Movement? How was the Black musical feminism of the Black Women’s Liberation Movement influenced by, and how did it influence, the Black aesthetic and the feminist aesthetic of the 1960s and 1970s?
