Barbara Smith's THE TRUTH THAT NEVER HURTS

"The near nonexistence of Black lesbian literature which other Black lesbians and I so deeply feel has everything to do with the politics of our lives, the total suppression of identity that all Black women, lesbians or not, must face. This literary silence is again intensified by the unavailability of an autonomous Black feminist movement through which we could fight our oppression and also begin to name ourselves." (Smith, 1998)

Political Activist, writer, educator Barbara Smith has published a book in 1998 which compiles twenty years of political, personal, theoretical writing. THE TRUTH THAT NEVER HURTS: WRITINGS ON RACE, GENDER, AND FREEDOM, gives us essays that are previously published as well as unpublished essays from Smith's political and academic career. Her work extends beyond discussions about literature -- which is her strength. Her articles range from discussions on literature to discussions of major political issues of the periods in which they are written, all of which are applicable to our understanding of the intersections of race, class, gender and political identity today.

Smith brought to the attention of feminist critics the need to give more attention to African American women's literature, and more specifically to African American lesbian literature in 1977. Smith wrote in 1977:

"Until a Black Feminist criticism exists, we will not even know what these writers mean ... citations from a variety of critics ... prove that without a black feminist critical perspective not only are books by Black women misunderstood, they are destroyed in the process." (Smith,1977)

Smith, in 1977, goes a step beyond the writers who preceded her whose emphasis was on the need for African American women to write our own stories. Smith is calling for African American literary critics to give attention to African American women's work. This was groundbreaking for the seventies... and is still a significant challenge to feminist criticism at the turn of another century.

In her 1985 essay entitled "The Truth that Never Hurts: Black Lesbians in Fiction in the 1980's," Smith specifically discusses he political impact of exclusion of black lesbians in literature on our experiences in reality. She also raises the impact on this exclusion to all women. African American lesbian writers' participate in the struggle for all women, nevertheless, critics continue to ignore black lesbian writers or black lesbians in literature. She writes:

Despite the homophobic exclusion and silencing of Black lesbian writers, the creation of complex, accurate, and artistically compelling depiction of Black lesbians in literature has been and will continue to be essential to the development of African American women's literature as a

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