Saturday, January 5, 2008

New York City: PIA

Pia: 25, raised in Crown Heights, dancer, choreographer, dance studio manager, afterschool teacher. Wouldn't consider herself a feminist.

"The first step to getting racial equality in an American patriarchal society is getting some perks for your men, and then hoping that your men are going to turn around and try to get some perks for you. I feel like that's why a lot of Black women don't label themselves as feminists...they'll label themselves under racial activists and then bring in women's issues as a second-tier thing. We are grappling with a whole different set of issues that just come first--I'm always reminded that I'm Black before being reminded that I'm a woman."

(Photo by Sadye Vassil)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Pia--

When was the last time men got some perks and then "turned around and got some perks" for women???? It's just not human nature. If women want something, they might as well fight for it themselves, as WOMEN, and not expect people to be empathetic towards them. If every black feminist just waited for the perks to filter up through the Civil Rights movement, they'd still be waiting. The way I see it, being black and being a woman are two distinct, if not interrelated, fights.