Black feminist thought demonstrates Black women's emerging power as agents of
knowledge. By portraying African-American women as self-defined, selt-reliant individuals
confronting race, gender, and class oppression, Afrocentric feminist thought speaks to the
importance that oppression, Afrocentric feminist thought speaks to the importance that
knowledge plays in empowering oppressed people. One distinguishing feature of Black
feminist thought is its insistence that both the changed consciousness of individuals and the
social transformation of political and economic institutions constitute essential ingredients
for social change. New knowledge is important for both dimensions ot change