Who was Dorothy Pitnam Hughes, an African American figure in intersectional feminism?

“I don’t think sisterhood can exist until it is understood that classism has to go with sexism ». If it were necessary to summarize the thought and struggle of Dorothy Pitnam Hughes, this sentence would be very representative.

Born Dorothy Jean Ridly on October 2, 1938 in Georgia, United States, this African-American feminist figure died on December 1 in Florida, at the age of 84. His daughter, Delethia Ridley-Malmsten, said her mother died of old age.

civil rights activist

It’s hard to sum up all that Americans, and American women in particular, owe Dorothy Pitnam Hughes. Multiplying the struggles, she fought against sexism, classism and racism. Settled in New York in 1958, where she first worked as a saleswoman, singer and housekeeper, she was involved in defense of civil rights alongside Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. It was the death of her father, beaten to death when she was 10, and which her family attributes to members of the Ku Klux Klan, that ignited the flame of activism in young Dorothy. A fire that burned her whole life.

For the protection of children

Subsequently, Dorothy Pitnam Hughes stood out for her commitment to protecting children and helping families in New York. Like through the West 80th Community Childcare Center, which opened in 1966 to compensate for the lack of childcare that particularly penalizes African-American mothers. It’s a kindergarten, but a multi-racial one and therefore way ahead of its time. It is in the context of this activity that he meets Gloria Steinhem.

The duet with Gloria Steinhem

In 1968, journalist and feminist activist Gloria Steinhem decided to write an article about the center opened by Dorothy Pitnam Hughes. This is the beginning of a collaboration that will lead the two women to become an iconic duo of the intersectional feminist struggle in the United States. In 1971they co-founded the Alliance for Feminist Action and published SM magazinewith the aim of raising awareness of gender issues, class struggle and racism.

Together, they embark on a tour of the United States to lecture. It was on this occasion that they posed for photographer Dan Wynn, who was Steinem’s neighbor at the time. The black and white photo, in which the two women pose side by side, fists raised, is published in the magazine Squire in the same year and very quickly became an emblematic image of the women’s liberation movement. Above all, it symbolizes a feminism that makes clear its ambition not to fight only for white women, and that includes issues of racism in its reflections. They will reproduce the photo in 2013, at 75 for Dorothy and 79 for Gloria, respectively.

On Instagram, under a photo of Dorothy Pitnam Hughes, Gloria Steinem paid tribute to the one she had “a chance to be considered a friend and co-conspirator for (her) whole life”. “He encouraged me to speak in public and we spent years traveling across the country. Her devotion to child welfare, racial justice, and economic liberation means thishe left the world better than he found it »wrote the feminist.

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