"Usually, when people talk about the "strength" of black women . . . . they ignore the reality that to be strong in the face of oppression is not the… - bell hooks

None of us should be ashamed to speak of our class power or lack of it. Overcoming fear, even the fear of being immodest, and acting courageously to bring issues of class- especially radical standpoints – into the discourse of blackness is a gesture of militant defiance, one that runs counter to bourgeois insistence that we think of “money” in particular and class in general as private matters.

Those of us who have already chosen to embrace a love ethic, know that when we let our light shine, we draw to us and are drawn to other bearers of light. We are not alone.

Teaching women how to defend themselves against male rapists is not the same as working to change society so that men will not rape.