Co-founder of Combahee River Collective to speak to UHCL

UPDATE: 3/16/2020 – These speaking events will no longer be held in person. However, the discussions will be held online via Blackboard Collaborate. 

Demita Frazier, feminist, writer, teacher and activist, will be speaking at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) March 17 and 18. She is offering a two-part series of talks titled “Black Feminist History” and “Coalition Building through Collective Organization respectively.”

“I want to talk about compassion, coalition and to keep our eyes on the ultimate goal,” Frazier said. “I want to talk about taking care of one another.”

Frazier is one of the co-founders of the Combahee River Collective (1974-1980). The Combahee River Collective is a group of black feminists that create and define their own politics. The Collective stood up for black female rights. The Combahee River Collective statement was created and written by Afrocentric black feminists who parted ways from the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO). The Combahee River Collective was written back in April 1977 addressing their outlooks on feminist thoughts.

Frazier co-founded the Combahee River Collective with Barbara and Beverly Smith, to name some of the many women of the collective, and together they argued how sexism, racism and racial oppression intersect one another.

“When the group was starting, I was in college full time and also working full time,” Frazier said.  “I was the youngest of the group, Barbara and Beverly already had their fancy degrees when we were starting.”

The group’s name came from the heroic actions of Harriet Tubman, who led a campaign that freed more than 750 slaves at South Carolina’s Combahee River in 1863. About a century later, the women in the Collective wrote a Black feminist thesis highlighting the fact that neither the white feminist movement of the 1960s and the ’70s nor the Civil Rights movement addressed the specific issues of Black women.

“We were making space for black women,” Frazier said. “Anything you can do for black people in this racist country is a good thing.”

The Collective held its last network retreat in February 1980 and disbanded that same year.

Frazier is a lifelong Black feminist, social justice activist, writer, and teacher. When she was a high school student, Frazier helped organize a student walkout in protest of the Vietnam War.

“I started my activism in high school,” Frazier said. “Almost everyone has a passion for social justice.”

She has worked in coalition with many organizations on the issues of reproductive rights, domestic violence, the care and protection of endangered children, and a host of other issues affecting communities of color. After receiving her JD (Juris Doctor) from Northeastern University, Frazier contributed to local and national campaigns for gender and racial justice. Now Frazier spends her life being a mentor/coach and speaks at various conferences and events around the United States.

Shreerekha Subramanian, department chair of liberal arts and associate professor of humanities, in collaboration with Christal Seahorn, assistant professor of writing, in the
college of human sciences and humanities, are organizing this event with support from a number of offices across the university such as the Office of Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Women’s and Gender Studies Program; First-Year Seminar; Common Reader Program; various student organizations; and the College of Human Sciences and Humanities Dean’s Office. The genesis of this two-day series has to do with an organic development stemming from Subramanian’s admiration and friendship with Frazier.

“We have been friends for the last couple of years, ever since I saw her speak at National Women’s Studies Association annual conference in Baltimore, and she told me she was coming to Houston just to spend time talking about our work,” Subramanian said, “I said if you’re coming to Houston, you need to speak at UHCL because that’s my home.”

Subramanian said she worked fast to get this event approved in a short amount of time.

“Shreerekha and I have been talking about me coming to UHCL, but the timing hasn’t always been right.” Frazier said, “I had some time in March to visit.”

While Frazier is on campus, she will be speaking at two events. On March 17, she will speak on the “Introduction to Black Feminist History.” This will be held in the Forest Room at 5 p.m., with a reception at 6 p.m.

The second date, March 18, will be “Coalition Building through Collective Organizing.” This speaking event will take place at 5 p.m. in the Neumann Library Hawk’s Nest with a reception following at 6 p.m. in the atrium right outside the library. Both events are free, and all students, staff, faculty and members of the community are welcome to attend.

“Demita Frazier has been committed to social activism throughout her life,” said Aaron Hart, vice president for student affairs. “Students will benefit from hearing about what she has accomplished and how she has changed our world. We hope that she will ignite our students into action as well.”