Barbara Smith is an author, activist, and independent scholar who has played a groundbreaking role in opening up a national cultural and political dialogue about the intersections of race, class, sexuality, and gender.  She was among the first to define an African American women’s literary tradition and to build Black women’s studies and Black feminism in the United States.  She has been politically active in many movements for social justice since the 1960s. She was a co-founder of the Combahee River Collective and of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. She served two terms as a member of the Albany Common Council from 2006-2013. In 2005 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

photo credit for Joanna Chattman