Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism

         Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism is a collection of writings by young women of color and they write about their experiences that deal with identity and family history, racism, sexism and many other things. As I was reading this, I thought about the authors and editors and what they wanted me to know. I think the authors/editors want me to be aware of the opinions and perspectives of women of color. They want me to see how they feel towards today's (white) feminism, how it affects them and their lives, feminist-wise. How do I know that this is what the authors/editors want me to know? Besides the fact that it's in the title, I know this is what the authors want me to know because of the format of the book itself. Like I said before, it is a collection of different stories from women of color. The stories talk about personal experiences, their childhood/life growing up, education and relationships, involving feminism. What does the author want me to think or feel? The authors want me to start thinking about feminism with a different point of view - the perspective of women of color. They want me to think white feminism and womanism (feminism focused on women of color) and see the differences and different experiences and struggles these women have faced and how it has affected them to be who they are today. I believe that the authors would like me to discover, on my own, how I feel towards this collection of writings. Here is a quote from the book that I'd like to add so you, reader, can get a feel about how this book works. "As young women of color, we have both a different and similar relationship to feminism as the women in our mother's generation. We've grown up with legalized abortion, the legacy of the Civil Rights movement and gay liberation, but we still deal with sexual harassment, racist remarks from feminists and the homophobia within our communities. The difference is that now we talk about these issues in women's studies classes, in classrooms that are multicultural but remains racially profiled."