Reflections Unheard collects interviews with female civil rights leaders about sexism within the Black Power movement and their alienation from the second wave of feminism in the 1960s. Filmmaker Nevline Nnaji punctuates appearances by Gwendolyn Simmons (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), Deborah Singletary (National Black Feminist Organization), Rosemari Mealy and Barbara Easley-Cox (both of the Black Panther Party), and several others, with period footage from meetings, news/talk shows, and speeches (Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, activist Angela Davis, and poet Nikki Giovanni are among those featured in the clips). The various commentaries paint a picture of black male activists in the 1960s promoting traditional views of gender roles and patriarchal structures that would reinforce their primacy as breadwinners and decision makers. In this view, men hoped to regain—through their activism—what they had lost through slavery and discrimination, an aim that would be defeated if black women took jobs and instead perpetuated a matriarchal culture. The second argumentative thread here deals with the elitism of the white feminist movement (entertainer Helen Reddy, in an archival interview, is among those acknowledging as much), which many saw as being dominated by middle-class concerns that were far removed from day-to-day challenges such as economic survival, feeding families, shielding welfare recipients from retailers' overcharging, and seeking employment protections for predominantly black female jobs such as housecleaning. Bringing historical context to important issues that continue to resonate in contemporary society, Reflections Unheard is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)
Reflections Unheard: Black Women in Civil Rights
(2013) 81 min. DVD: $89: public libraries; $350: colleges & universities. Women Make Movies. PPR. Volume 30, Issue 1
Reflections Unheard: Black Women in Civil Rights
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