å Friday, February 10th, 2017

Angela Davis attempts to convey the initial free-for-all that was the commencement of the women’s rights movement alongside black liberation, describing the difference in ideologies, interests and involvement of women and abolitionists determined for equal rights. Davis sheds light on the juxtaposition of the already destitute working conditions available to working class women, the all around inhumane treatment of African American women and the concerns of the Abolitionists party. Through the mentioning of Charlotte Woodward and Sojourner Truth, Davis shows all women outside the rising middle class made up a notable majority of women that were mostly unrepresented by the Convention at Seneca Falls, which included mill workers and slaves. Such are the lives of Woodward and Truth; women who strived for much more than an equality of status to men, white or black. Focusing on the absence of any colored women at the Convention at Seneca Falls, Davis makes it clear that there is a difference in agendas within the women’s rights movement regarding association with the lower class women and African Americans. As a result collaboration between oppressed women and abolitionists was not prioritized and prevented the movement from achieving its full potential. Thus, the lack of integration of abolitionists in the women’s rights movement outside of the few Davis mentions most likely stumped the collective growth of the effort early on, or at least partially nullified the impact of the Convention at Seneca Falls. Moreover, I believe that Davis wants the reader to understand the importance of the conflicting movements during mid-nineteenth century and how they competed, by highlighting both the differences and similarities of African Americans and women fighting for equal rights. Had both parties effectively collaborated, women’s suffrage and the freedom of black Americans could have essentially provoked the undertaking of a second American revolution.