Biography
Early Life
Barbara Smith was born on November 16, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio. She had a twin sister named Beverly. Their mother was Hilda Beall Smith. Their father was Gartrell SmithHer parents separated before the twins were born.
Smith’s mother died in 1956. She had heart problems. The twins were only nine years old. Their grandmother took care of them after their mother died. The girls lived in a house with their aunts, uncles, and cousins. They went to Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland. The church often invited preachers who talked about social justice. One of those preachers was Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Going to this church inspired Smith to work for social justice.
Smith did well in school. She got into Mount Holyoke College in 1965. She left because people bullied her because of her race. She spent a year at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She studied social sciences there. Smith went back to Mount Holyoke for her last year. She graduated in 1969. She got her Master’s degree in Literature from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. She joined the Women’s Movement and the Gay Liberation Movement while living in Pittsburgh.
Activism
Smith is known for her work in Black feminism and LGBTQ+ activism. She started the Combahee River Collective in 1975. Her twin sister, Beverly, and Demita Frazier helped start it, too. This group of women writers and activists was very bold for its time. Their work looked at how race, class, and gender connect. The Collective wrote an important document called the Combahee River Collective Statement. It talked about “identity politics.” This idea explained how different parts of a person’s identity create specific types of unfair treatment. Black lesbian women faced many of these problems. The idea of identity politics later inspired scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw’s idea of “intersectionality.”
Smith taught classes about Black women writers at Emerson College in the early 1970s. The books she needed were hard to find. She talked about this problem with Audre Lorde, a Black feminist writer. This gave Smith an idea. She started Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press in 1980. It was the first American publishing company run by women of color for women of color. Kitchen Table published important writers. These included Chicana scholar Gloria Anzaldúa, African American playwright Hattie Gossett, and poet June Jordan. Kitchen Table still inspires women of color today.
Smith was elected to the Albany, New York Common Council in 2005. She represented Ward 4. She was re-elected in 2009. While in office, she was active on issues of violence prevention and creating educational opportunities for the poor and minorities. Smith has won many awards. She received the Stonewall Award in 1994. She received the Church Women United’s Human Rights Award in 2000. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. The University at Albany gave her an honorary doctorate in 2015. Barbara Smith’s work still inspires people who care about social justice and equality.
