Women Liberated

New Masses, February 19, 1935

Lydia Gibson

Lydia Gibson’s politically charged portrayal of Women Liberated sheds light on racialized tension within the American left. Some black intellectuals found the Communist Party of America to be a bastion of economic and social reform, but others criticized the party for its increasing naiveté and latent racism. Black leftists, women in particular, grew frustrated with the Party’s brand of white philanthropy which, under the guise of charity, blamed the poor for being poor. Looking at Lydia Gibson’s Women Liberated, one wonders which, if any, black radical woman she had in mind.

Hannah James