This Thursday, April 2, at 11 am, Joy of Resistance: Multicultural Feminist Radio @ WBAI, is proud to present an interview with the legendary Frances M. Beal, a pioneer of the Black Women’s Liberation wing of the Women’s Liberation movement. Beal’s work has influenced generations; in this interview, recorded on March 16, Beal fills in a number of pieces usually missing from narratives of both the Civil Rights and Women’s Liberation movements–thereby adding to our collective history.
In 1968 when Frances Beal was a member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), she co-founded the SNCC Black Women’s Liberation Committee. In the interview, Beal describes the situation of Black women at that time, caught between the myth of a “black matriarchy” being propounded by the racist Moynihan Report–which tried to blame all problems in the Black community on “aggressive” Black women; and men of the emerging Black Nationalist Movement who were telling Black women that it was their job was to “make babies for the revolution,” be submissive to their husbands and take a back seat in organizing in order to “let the men lead” for the “good of the race”.
In 1969 Beal wrote “Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female”. Now widely anthologized and taught internationally in Women’s Studies classes, it continues to influence younger generations.
A sampling of other issues Beal takes on in this interview: the case for why women as a whole cannot move forward without an analysis that includes race and class in addition to sex; how the abandonment of the early radical feminist demand for “free 24-hour daycare” was one of the first class betrayals within the feminist movement; the origins of SNCC breaking away from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; and what women and all progressives should be doing in the Obama era.
This historic interview was recorded on March 16 at the Queens College Radio station (WQMC), when Beal, who resides in Oakland, CA, made a rare visit to New York City to speak at Queens College. The interview is conducted by Fran Luck, with participation by Taja Lindley and Carol Giardina. It can be heard streaming live on the web and will be archived for 90 days, at www.wbai.org
We will be offering a CD of this interview as our premium–the gift that listeners recieve upon making a contribution to WBAI–as part of WBAI’s 4-day mini fund-drive, which will run from April 2 through April 5th. In addition to the interview, we will be sending those who pledge during our show, a copy of Beal’s landmark 1969 essay “Double Jeopardy: To be Black and Female”–the foundational essay of Black Women’s Liberation. This package will be available for a pledge of $50., which will include a membership in WBAI.
WBAI, founded in 1960 and New York City’s most progressive radio station is gravely in need of your support in order to meet its basic expenses. Serving the tri-State area for nearly 50 years, it is an irreplaceable resource. In addition, a pledge made to the station during Joy of Resistance’ airtime will send a statement of support for feminist radio. Joy of Resistance is WBAI’s only feminist program, bringing you, on the first Thursday of every month at 11 AM, in-depth coverage of the worldwide and ongoing struggle for women’s full equality. We can be reached at (212) 209-2987 and emailed at joyofresistance@wbai.org.
Fran Luck,
Executive Producer,
Joy of Resistance, Multicultural Feminist Radio
@ WBAI, 99.5 FM, NYC
