Our Similarities Transcended Our Differences

Abstract

The Third World Women’s Alliance (TWWA) was an activist organization born from the struggles of Black women in the social movements of the 1960s. Founded in response to the misogyny of the American Civil Rights Movement and racism in the Women’s Liberation movement, Black women sought to create an organization that championed issues specific to their experiences. The TWWA was unique in its approach to activism, operating under “Triple Jeopardy,” an understanding that women of colour were oppressed at the intersection of race, gender, and class, and sought to unite women from around the world through a collective understanding of oppression. Emerging out of their marginalization within other movements for social justice, the TWWA developed a unique intersectional and internationalist ethos and organizing strategies rooted in their lived experiences that would have a profound impact on contemporary activist movements.