7 Black Female Thought Leaders History Books Ignore

female leader patricia hill collins

Patricia Hill Collins (1948-)

Patricia Hill Collins is a sociologist who has had quite an illustrious career in academia. She is best known for her work “Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment,” in which she details how race, class, gender, sexuality and nation intersect to have compounding effects on people with several marginalized identities.

Working from an intersectionality approach,  Collins has produced a number of books and essays that illuminate how the intersection of multiple oppressed identities shapes a person’s life chances and experiences.

In addition to her many written works Collins has been a strong Black feminist voice, speaking out against the pervasiveness of inequality in our education system. As a result of her work more attention has been given to the multiple systems of oppression that constrict marginalized persons and how these sustain white supremacy.

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