Brixton Black Women's Group

The Brixton Black Women's Group (BWG) was an organisation for Black women in Brixton. One of the first Black women's groups in the UK, the BWG existed from 1973 to 1989.[1] BWG members were also involved in Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent and members were integral in organising the OWAAD conferences from 1979 and 1982.[2][3]

Politics

Established as a socialist feminist group,[4] its aim was to provide a space for women of African and Asian decent to meet and organise around issues specific to their experiences.[5][6]

Member Melba Wilson explained in a 2018 interview how BWG's aims also looked beyond the local area, to make connections between local and global justice:

"It was about joining forces with anti-imperialist struggle and anti-capitalist struggle. It was about creating a different kind of movement whose basis was about a more egalitarian and equal way of distributing wealth. Also acknowledging the diverse kind of groupings that existed at that time. Actually, what we are doing still feels very relevant today, connections can still be made in terms of fighting for independence and solidarity with many oppressed groups around the world."[7]

Foundation

Several of the group's founding members, such as Beverley Bryan, Olive Morris and Liz Obi, had previously been active in the British Black Panthers and .[8] BWG was formed partly from frustrations that although there was a women's caucus, the Panthers were not taking women's issues seriously.[9]

For its first two years, the group lacked a dedicated meeting space and met in members' homes, or at a squat at 121 Railton Road, Brixton.[5][7] Later, together with the Mary Seacole Craft Group, the BWG established the Mary Seacole House on Clapham High street, renamed the Black Women's Centre in 1979.[4]

Publications

From 1979 to 1983 The BWG published the Speak Out newsletter.[4][10][9][11] The newsletter was written collectively by members of the BWG and provided a space to further discuss issues about the relationship between feminism, the women's liberation movement and the Black liberation movement in the UK. The newsletter also published articles related to key campaigns around housing, education, reproductive rights, and politics.[1][12]

Speak Out was anthologised in a book published in 2023, Speak Out!: The Brixton Black Women's Group.[1]

Notable members

• Beverley Bryan
• Stella Dadzie
• Gail Lewis
• Amina Mama
• Olive Morris
• Liz Obi
• Dorothea Smartt

See also

• Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent
• Southall Black Sisters
• British Black Panthers
• Women's Liberation in the UK

References

1. Miller, Milo; Brixton Black Women's Group (London, England), eds. (2023). Speak out! a Brixton Black Women's Group reader. London ; New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-80429-197-9.
2. Bryan, Beverley; Dadzie, Stella; Scafe, Suzanne; Okolosie, Lola (2018). The heart of the race: Black women's lives in Britain. London ; New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-78663-586-0. OCLC 1002121833.
3. Group, Brixton Black Women's; Henry, Alice (1984). "interview: Black Politics ⇋ Black Feminism: Brixton Black Women's Group talks about its part in British Black feminism..." Off Our Backs. 14 (11): 14–28. ISSN 0030-0071. {{cite journal}}: |last= has generic name (help)
4. Scafe, Suzanne (2002). "Brixton Black Women's Group". In Donnell, Alison (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.
5. Bogle, Marlene T. (Spring 1988). "Brixton Black Women's Centre: Organizing on Child Sexual Abuse". Feminist Review. 28: 132–35. doi:10.1057/fr.1988.12. S2CID 143014909.
6. Group, Brixton Black Women's (1984). "Black Women Organizing". Feminist Review (17): 84–89. doi:10.2307/1395018. ISSN 0141-7789. {{cite journal}}: |last= has generic name (help)
7. Mullings-Lawrence, Sireita (3 July 2019). "Voices from the Front Line : Young People Interrogating Railton Road's Heritage". Photography and Culture. 12 (3): 337–350. doi:10.1080/17514517.2019.1643170. ISSN 1751-4517.
8. Agyepong, Heather (10 March 2016). "The Forgotten Story of the Women Behind the British Black Panthers". The Debrief. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
9. Thomas, Tobi (24 October 2023). "'It was amazing to find sisters': Brixton Black Women's Group on their revolutionary newsletter". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
10. "Speak Out Pamphlet - Black Women's Group Brixton". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
11. Brixton Black Women's Group (2023). Speak Out!:The Brixton Black Women's Group. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1804291979.
12. Thomlinson, Natalie (October 2016). "'Second-Wave' Black Feminist Periodicals in Britain". Women: A Cultural Review. 27 (4): 432–445. doi:10.1080/09574042.2017.1301129. ISSN 0957-4042.