What is Womanism, and Why It Matters

As American forces pushed into Germany in early 1945, soldiers were also fighting a major morale problem. Many had not received mail for at least months.

The newly formed Six-Triple Eight battalion was charged with finding a solution. The predominantly black Army unit processed seventeen million pieces of undelivered mail in half the time expected. Yet their dedication was met with repeated bigotry. That historic mistreatment was magnified this year by Defense department’s removal of the webpage detailing the unit’s service. It is but one example of the greater burden of discrimination experienced by women of color, and has led to a more finely focused version of feminism, called Womanism.