Black Feminists: Self-Care is a Radical Political Tool

SELF-CARE
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Self-care
A key idea that has been promoted by Black Feminists is self-care, which they consider a radical political tool. The pioneers of the idea of self-care as a tool for political change are Anna Julia Cooper and Audre Lorde, who are key figures in the history of Black feminism. While Cooper focused on self-love, her idea of its implication for political and social activism is similar to the goals of self-care as stipulated by Lorde. Self-care according to Lorde is “not self-indulgence but self-preservation.” (Ahmed, 2017, p.238). Ahmed (2017) further refers to self-care as warfare as it leads to protests against injustices. In this sense, I agree with Black Feminists that self-care is a radical political tool, particularly in a world that is against Black women. As a radical political tool, self-care represents a shift from taking care of others, can lead to self-definition and self-evaluation, and promotes social change.
In a world that is characterized by oppressive systems against women, particularly Black women, self-care can be a key radical political tool. In her book, Ahmed (2017) notes how Lorde’s description of self-care is revolutionary as she notes that Black women have to find a way to survive in a system that kills others in order to promote life for others As noted by the author, when the world is organized in such a way that it promotes one’s survival in regards to security, education, and healthcare, the costs of vulnerability are significantly reduced. However, for Black people, they are always at risk because of the lack of resources to support their lives in all contingencies (Ahmed, 2017). With racism characterizing the experiences of Black people, Ahmed (2017) notes that death can occur from the outside in. In this sense, given the effects racism and discrimination have inflicted on Black people, when they practice self-care, it can be considered a radical political move. While self-care may seem like a way of making feminism about resilience, Ahmed (2017) is quick to dismiss this notion. She notes that Black people are asked to be resilient in order to take more pressure, which can be increased slowly. However, she emphasizes self-care as a way to survive as feminists in a cruel world. In this sense, when people practice self-care in order to survive in an extremely cruel world, self-care can be said to be a radical political tool.
Self-care is a radical political tool because it represents a shift from taking care of those who perpetuated racism and discrimination. As described by Collins (1985), historically, Black women have not only cleaned, cooked, and carried out domestic duties for white people, but they also nurtured their children and offered guidance to their employers. With Black women having served white people for generations, engaging in self-care can be said to be a radical political undertaking in the sense that it represents breaking away from taking care of those that oppressed
them. With a focus on self-care, Black women have the opportunity to fight for what matters to them. It is arguable that the ability to make meaningful political action i...