This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color

This chapter begins with “The Other Heritage” by Rosario Morales, a poem on her experience having both Black and Spanish roots, the comfort and discomfort of entering Black and Hispanic spaces after having spent much time in mainly white ones. Kate Rushin describes the particular flavor of sexism she faces as a Black woman in “The Tired Poem: Last Letter from a Typical (Unemployed) Black Professional Woman.” Kate Rushin continues the story in “To Be Continued…” when she talks to a girlfriend and finds not only affirmation of her experiences, but encouragement to express herself rather than shut down and internalize her experiences with men.

“Across the Kitchen Table: A Sister-to-Sister Dialogue” is a transcript of Barbara Smith and Beverly Smith answering questions sent to them by the editors of This Bridge Called My Back, in which they unpack their “experiences as Black feminists in the Women’s Movement” including both their exclusion from white feminists by race and exclusion from fellow Black women due to their sexuality.

Cheryl Clarke situates the experience and underlying theories of not only countering all patriarchal norms by being a lesbian, but also being such in a Black