The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Black Women Erased from Social Justice History

Episode Date: August 8, 2020

Trevor breaks down America's long history of minimizing or erasing Black women who played leading roles in game-changing social justice movements. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You're rolling. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Other than coronavirus, the biggest story this year has been Black Lives Matter, a movement fighting for equality and justice,

and the reason so many of your favorite statues are suddenly unemployed. But as much as everyone has been talking about BLM, there's one aspect that doesn't get talked about enough, the role of black women in the movement. National attention focused on police brutality of and police killings of black men is not extended to black women. Often black women, black women, black trans women are left out of the conversation. While the names most associated with the Black Lives Matter movement are male, black women and girls are regularly victim to police brutality in the US.

Black women's experiences of police brutality tend to receive far less media and political attention. Dealing with this double layer of discrimination, black women have often been at the heart of key civil rights movements. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement, founded by three women back in 2013. Yeah, think about it. There's this giant, historic movement sweeping the country.

And 99% of us have never even heard of the women who founded it, which is pretty egregious. I mean, we all know who founded KFC, and that's not even a movement for racial equality. I mean, that's just a movement for destroying your bowels. And look, I'll be honest, I didn't know black women started the Black Lives Matter movement, partly because Aunt Vecke told me it was her daughter. It was really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really their thiiiiii. thi. thi. thi. their, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, th. And, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their Lives Matter movement. Partly because Aunt Vicki told me it was her daughter. It was really convincing, she had a resume and everything. But the unfortunate truth is overlooking the role of black women in leading movements of social justice isn't anything new.

As we'll find out in another installment of, If you don't know, now you know. Although black women have been the pioneers of so many movements that have changed the world, the erasure of black women from the story of these movements is something we've seen many times throughout American history. Starting all the way back with the women's suffrage movements. African American women in particular played a significant and sometimes overlooked role at a suffrage movement. There were African-American women fighting for suffrage from the beginning, you know, sojourner truth in the time of the Civil War,

Ida B. Wells Barnett and Mary Church Terrell. They built a movement that would grow to half a million, but they would never find acceptance among mainstream suffragists. At that time, suffrage leaders were actively wooing southern white members. To appease the southerners, white suffragists found it expedient to abandon their black sisters. They minimized the presence of black women in that struggle, Elizabeth Kady Stan, seized control of suffrage history in this multi-volume book that still dominates the histories and essentially wrote black women out of that.

That's right. Black suffragettes were literally written out of the history books by white women in the movement. And just look at their faces. It's like they had already seen the future and they were like, mm-hmm, I'm not going to get credit for any of this, am I. Because the the the the the the the the the truth the truth the truth their their their their their their their their, I'm their, I'm their, I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm, I'm th. I'm th. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm th. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I? Because the truth is, certain white feminist heroes were super problematic. I mean, people remember them like they were early versions of Wonder Woman, when in reality,

they were more like the mom from Get Out. Now, you may not be surprised that these 1920s Karen's were eager to accept black women's work, but give them none of the credit. But what may surprise you is that black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black black. surprise you is that black men in the civil rights movement were also happy to do a similar thing. Most women who worked in the movement, who were the actual backbone of the civil rights

movement, were not really known. Media attention would always be drawn to the men of the movement as they're doing work, the Martin Luther Kings and others, but would not necessarily go to women like Ella Baker, who was a long-time activist, who helped to nurture and birth the student movement. Diane Nash was the lead strategist behind the citizens in Nashville and the Freedom Writers. She played a critical role in organizing the Selma marches. Dorothy Height was the godmother of the civil rights movement, but because she was

a woman, she was often off to the side, behind the podium, behind the scenes. She was a guiding force at the table when the Big Six planned the historic march on Washington in 1963, the lone woman at a table full of men. Yet despite all her efforts, Hite could not convince them that a woman should be allowed to speak at the podium the day of the march. Come on, man, this is so messed up. Black women with a lifeblood of the civil rights movement, and still, they got cock-blocked by the dudes?

I mean, the reverends got half a dozen microphones right there. You can't break one of those off of my girl, Dorothy? She was a critical part of the group. It's like if the stands. And this just shows you that black women don't just have to deal with racism from the world, but oftentimes they have to deal with the sexism within their own communities and the world at large. There's actually a term for it, misogyny against black women. And it also sounds like the title of a really fancy French movie. I would love to promote you, but unfortunately I cannot because you are a black woman.

Oh, holy this f-foo is the wrong one of the day for the song, griping and vacillations because somebody would get their ass-meet. So throughout history, black women have had their contributions to ground-breaking movements minimized or erased, whether it's women's suffrage or civil rights. And the list goes on and on and on. The role of black women in starting and founding the women's movement and feminism altogether is still not in the history books. Many don't know this, but the Me Too movement was started by a black woman, Duranberg 12 years ago to support victims and survivors of sexual

violence. In the modern-day calls for justice and equality, there's an echo of another social movement for LGBTQ plus rights, a movement sparked and surk, the movement sparked and sustained by black trans women. We never would have had a stone wall if it wasn't for a black trans women saying enough due to police brutality and police misconduct. They fought back against the police that night. In particular, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, as well as Miss Major. In 2015, when they did the stonewall movie, although we all knew that these black

transgender women started that riot that evening. They whitewashed it, and they started it and replaced them with white queer characters as the leaders of that. Damn, they pulled a reverse Hamilton on the Stonewall movie. You know what we need to do? We need to add those women into the movie with CGI. Yeah, George Lucas has the reparations for Jaja binks about it? the gay, the gay, their, their, their, their, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, tho, and tho, tho, and th. th. th. th. the, and, and, th. th. th. th. th. th. And, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, thean, and, thean, and, thean, and, thean, and, thea. th Binks. You know when you think about it, the gay rights movement was basically like all cool slang on Twitter.

You thought it came from white gay men, but they actually got it from a black woman. So the next time you march with Black Lives Matter or you exercise your right to vote, or your dance moves go viral on Tick Tock, don't forget that black women were a major part of making that happen. And if you don't know, now you know. The Daily Show with Crevernoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central Act. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show oncom. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to the

Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.

I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes.