An Intersectional Feminist Analysis of Women's Oppression in Evie Shockley’s Selected Poems

Abstract

Contemporary African American poetry passionately portrays the historical oppression of African American women. Through powerful verses, it explores their resilience and strength amid challenges, inspiring identity, empowerment, and unity within the community. One such writer is Evie Shockley, who attempts to showcase the oppression exercised upon black American women in her body of verses. Oppression includes but is not limited to gender, racial, and class oppression. The intersectional feminist approach is employed in analyzing and interpreting the oppression theme expressed in Shockley’s selected poems. The paper’s significance emanates from an investigation into the diverse oppression that African American women have encountered throughout history and continue to face in the present. Through this exploration, a heightened awareness of the plight endured by these women is achieved, fostering more significant concern regarding the inhumane treatment they have been subjected to multiple oppressions.