Ms. Magazine, March 2026
The trailblazing and spirited twins Barbara and Beverly Smith are living and breathing monuments to intersectional feminism and progressive politics. We have so much to learn from them. Approaching octogenarian status, these radical Black feminist sisters are most well known for their pioneering role in co-creating The Combahee River Collective, as well for their unrelenting organizing for human rights as it relates to race, class, sexuality and gender over many decades.
Their work is startlingly applicable to the times and the context we live in today, serving as a potent reminder that facing multiple oppressions requires grassroots organizing. I had the opportunity to spend time with the sisters during the recent Boston College’s Blacks in Boston Conference dedicated to the Combahee River Collective’s legacy.
The night before the conference, Harvard’s Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America hosted a reception to celebrate their acquisition of the Smith Papers: 165 cartons of materials containing letters, photographs, essay drafts, notes and books documenting a pivotal moment in U.S. history. The archive is a veritable treasure trove of history that spans hugely important decades like the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, a burgeoning period of Black feminist writing and activism.
