Do You Understand the Words That Are Comin Outta My Mouth/Off My Page?!?!?!

According to Black Feminsit Thought, "the dilemma facing Black women scholars engaged in creating Black feminist thought is that a knowledge claim that meets the criteria of adequacy for one group and thus is judged to be an acceptable claim may not be translatable into the terms of a different group" (506). In other words, scholars attempting to inform the masses about Black feminist through have difficulty doing so in language that translates. I think this is an important issue facing all scholars but can be particularly stressful in regards to Black Feminist Thought. Many African-American women, among others, who don't have access to education (whether higher or otherwise) know only what they "hear" about feminism such as feminists are bra-burning, hairy, butch lesbians. As a result, they decide feminism is not helpful or related to their struggle because they do not fit into that category. In addition, those who seek to learn about feminism may not be able to understand and comprehend the material becuase of the language used by scholars. Even those who do have access to higher education may have difficulty (ie: our class with the Butler and Halberstam pieces). However, for these scholars to write material in "Black English" or use language that may be more universally understood, the world of academia may disregard the validity or importance of the argument. Such a dilemma reflects, in my opinion, the interlocking systems of oppression. Black women in academia have to defend their intellect as both women and as African-Americans by using "sophisticated language" yet in doing so are potentially denying their race and possible class (if they grew up in a lower class environment) because they are excluding groups of people.