Recently, I have been revisiting the foundational woman of color feminist text This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, edited by Gloria Anzaldúa and Cherríe Moraga. This collection of essays, poems, stories, and artwork shifted my consciousness and ideas many years ago in grad school and I have been marveling at its impact ever since.
What does it mean to be changed by a book, or any publication or production? And what must it have meant to many people years ago when it was published in 1981, and in the years since? Moraga and Anzaldúa compiled this text against numerous odds and the collection has undergone publication issues over the years (a commentary not only on the content, but what happens to smaller presses - often ones created by and for women of color). Thankfully, This Bridge Called My Back is back in print.
At a glimpse, the collection contains work by the Combahee River Collective, Mitsuye Yamada, Barbara Cameron, doris davenport, Merle Woo, Norma Alarcón, Audre Lorde, Amalia Mesa-Bains, and many, many more. In an age when "feminist" is a negative term (the "f word") and feminisms in general are misunderstood by people of all ages and identities, the importance of a compilation such as this seems necessary and vitally important to conversations and activism related to racial identity, gender, sexuality, class, ageism, oppression, power, etc.
Going back to this text will push me to (re)consider other important collections and their lasting impact.
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