A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South

In the post-Reconstruction period, the future of African Americans was a central issue of debate, and here begins the book’s theme on The Quest for Black Liberation in the Post-Reconstruction Era. In the South, Black people were continually oppressed and disenfranchised, losing all social and political gains of emancipation. Cooper notes that Black men, while participating in politics, had little agency in political decisions, and Black women were totally excluded. However, she emphasizes the importance of Black womanhood, as Black women are pivotal witnesses of the African American experience. Here, we begin to see Cooper’s understanding of Black Feminism and Intersectional Oppression, as she discusses the unique perspective that Black women have from their experiences of intersectional oppression as women and as Black people, making them key agents of social progress and their role pivotal in understanding “the Nation’s problem” (2). She stresses that Black men cannot reproduce or fully understand the position and perspective of Black women. Her feminist viewpoint becomes evident, and her book gives voice to the thoughts and needs of African American women in the South.