Book Review: How We Get Free- Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective

[Image: The cover of the book which is a cream colored background with a large black dot stamped in the center of the book. Inside the dot, it says "how we get free" in capital letters, followed by a white line underneath, and under the line "black feminism and the combahee river collective" in smaller white letters. The bottom of the cover says "edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor" in black capital letters.]
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective is a set of interviews with Black feminist women, many of whom are queer or lesbian, that spans multiple generations. The book includes an introduction from the editor- Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, the original Combahee River Collective Statement, interviews by Taylor with Barbara Smith, Beverly Smith, Demita Frazier, and Alicia Garza, and is closed out with comments by Barbara Ransby from a 2017 socialism conference.

One of the more interesting things in this book that surprised me was that, as far as the contributors know, the Combahee River Collective Statement is the first time the phrase "identity politics" was used. However, in this statement, "identity politics" did not mean what many have reduced it to today- as some form of oppression olympics or single-issue privilege dynamics. What CRC meant by "identity politics" was much closer to what Kimberle Crenshaw later coined as "intersectionality." They were discussing the worlds of Black women, including queer Black women, and how Black feminism represents lived experiences that cannot be placed into boxes of Black or woman or Black plus woman. Also, back when the statement was written, the phrase "women of color" was not in play and CRC referred to themselves as "third world women" in global solidarity. This book made me think a lot about how these words and descriptions being changed has changed how we look at things. It almost seems as if these descriptors have become pacified over time in some ways.

Another interesting thing I found was the critique of modern day [what some people are mis-naming identity politics] where people are taught or believe they don't have a place or purpose in the struggle if they are not a member of the oppressed group being centered in that struggle. Barbara Smith (and others) emphasized the critical need to "[cross] boundaries and [work] across differences." Do not mistake this for ignoring differences are refusing to focus on certain things- Alicia Garza speaks frequently of the problem with people constantly trying to change "Black Lives Matter" into "All Lives Matter," "Brown Lives Matter," and "Black and Brown Lives Matter:" "I know your shit is fucked up, too, but can we just talk about Black people?" Crossing boundaries and working across differences is critical and still allows the complete freedom to focus on Black people or whoever else is centered at the moment.

All of the interviews catalogue interesting and important struggles in Black feminist history that are required reading for anyone who considers themself a feminist. They also showed struggles that repeat over time such as Black women being forced to do most of the organizing labor while getting little to none of the recognition, Black queer and trans people being excluded and/or erased, and the constant push-back against Black feminist ideals and organizing despite the reality that fighting for the most marginalized will always help everyone.

My only criticism of this book is that the interviews read as if they are a direct paste of full transcriptions from an audio recording which made settling into the book distracting and difficult at times. Taylor's introduction, writing, and interview questions were all excellent. However, I believe these interviews should have been edited to both flow better and perhaps reduce some of the text. I think that a lot of someone's thought or what they are saying can be lost when it is written with sentences repeatedly broken in half with "Mmhm... yeah.... uh huh... [laughs]" over and over. I think the interviews could have kept their conversational flair and still represented the speaking styles and personalities of the interviewees without including every interruption to what they were saying.

This book is definitely a must read for anyone interested in the history of feminism- as we all should be- especially the center and roots so often ignored that so often lead the way for many of the things we have today. How We Get Free is a great catalogue of stories by the powerful women who have lead and continue to lead the way for social justice. It is a great celebration of the 40-year anniversary of the Combahee River Collective Statement.