The Brixton Black Women's Group (BWG) was an organisation for

Black women Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

, London, England. One of the first Black women's groups in the UK, the BWG existed from 1973 to 1989. BWG members were also involved in Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD) and members were integral in organising the OWAAD conferences from 1979 and 1982.

Politics

Established as a socialist feminist group, BWG's aim was to provide a space for women of African and Asian descent to meet and organise around issues specific to their experiences. Member Melba Wilson explained in a 2018 interview how BWG's aims also looked beyond the local area, to make connections between local and global justice: "It was about joining forces with anti-imperialist struggle and anti-capitalist struggle. It was about creating a different kind of movement whose basis was about a more egalitarian and equal way of distributing wealth. Also acknowledging the diverse kind of groupings that existed at that time. Actually, what we are doing still feels very relevant today, connections can still be made in terms of fighting for independence and solidarity with many oppressed groups around the world."

Foundation

Several of the group's founding members, including Beverley Bryan, Olive Morris and Liz Obi, had previously been active in the British Black Panthers and . BWG was formed partly from frustrations that although there was a women's caucus, the Panthers were not taking women's issues seriously. For its first two years, the group lacked a dedicated meeting space and met in members' homes, or at a squat at 121 Railton Road, Brixton. They also met at Lambeth Women's Project. Later, together with the Mary Seacole Craft Group, the BWG established the

Mary Seacole Mary Jane Seacole (;Anionwu, E. N. (2012), "Mary Seacole: nursing care in many lands". ''British Journal of Healthcare Assistants'' 6(5), pp. 244–248. 23 November 1805 – 14 May 1881) was a British Nursing, nurse and Women in business ...

House on Clapham High Street, renamed the Black Women's Centre in 1979.

Publications

From 1979 to 1983, the BWG published the ''Speak Out'' newsletter. The newsletter was written collectively by members of the BWG and provided a space to further discuss issues about the relationship between feminism, the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

and the Black liberation movement in the UK. The newsletter also published articles related to key campaigns around housing, education, reproductive rights, and politics. ''Speak Out'' was anthologised in a book published in 2023, ''Speak Out!: The Brixton Black Women's Group''.

Notable members

References

1973 establishments in England Black British culture in Bristol Black British history Black feminist organizations Brixton Defunct organisations based in London Feminist organisations in England Organizations established in 1973 Socialist feminist organizations Women in London Women's history Women's organisations based in England {{Women-hist-stub

Politics

Foundation

Publications

Notable members

See also

References