Analysis of Dreams of Freedom: Black Feminism and Liberation

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Robin Kelley's "Dreams of Freedom," exploring the complexities of slavery and the pursuit of liberation through the lens of Black feminism and Black liberation. The essay examines how Kelley uses imagination and historical accounts to reconstruct the experiences of Black people, highlighting the hardships and discrimination faced by Black women and the broader Black community. It delves into the significance of dreams and visions in envisioning a free society and the role of key figures like Sojourner Truth and Dr. Martin Luther King. The essay emphasizes the interconnectedness of struggles around race, gender, sexuality, culture, class, and spirituality, showcasing the power of the feminist movement and the enduring desire for freedom. The author argues that freedom and love are central to Kelley's reconstruction of Black feminism and Black liberation, underscoring the importance of these concepts in the fight against oppression. The essay concludes by reaffirming Kelley's belief in the power of imagination as a catalyst for social change and the creation of a more equitable world.

Running head: DREAMS OF FREEDOM 1
Dreams of Freedom
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Dreams of Freedom
Robin Kelly in his book dreams of freedom takes us through the problems of slavery in an
imaginary manner that is full of visions. According to Kelly, the only way humans can make
the world better is through imagination. Kelly wants us to use the visions he creates in this
book as the binoculars of imaging what a free society will look like at the same time, learning
from the male and female activist who lived in the 20th century and sacrificed their lives to
try and stop their oppressor from oppressing them and other people in the society. Through
his book, many accomplished black activists like Dr. Martin Luther King who lived and
influenced people in the past generation are widely mentioned and their efforts to create a
free world are also cited. The role of women in transforming society also especially where
men have failed is also evident in this book. All this information is explained in the form of
dreams and visions. That is why this paper seeks to show how Kelly used the dream of black
feminism and Black liberation to reconstruct the radical experiences that the blacks go
through.
The Dream of Black Feminism
There are various instances that Kelly in his book has described the journey and the
hardships that the black woman has been subjected to. In Robin Kelley’s book the “freedom
of dreams” the main theme is black women oppression and a powerful quote “Here lay the
crux of the problem” has been used by Kelly to describe this them. all throughout the book
freedom of dreams, black women are relatively invincible and this is not a matter of
exclusion, but rather it demonstrates how the black people especially the black women
experiences and interest are scarcely considered in the society they live in. From the book
freedom of dreams, it’s evident that the whites perceived black men and women as equal and
similar in everything that is, in the problems they are facing and common interest. But Kelly

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uses his tactics to disapprove this argument and show that the black men and women are
more different. According to Kelly, the non-blacks perceived the situation to be gender when
in real sense it was far from it. This is why Kelly uses famous figures to prove his argument.
For example, Sojourner Truth who puts her voice on this matter by stating that “white
feminists and male abolitionists to acknowledge the oppression and potential of black
women” (137). She continues by saying the aim of Black liberation specifically to distinguish
men from women after which the same rights will then be awarded to both genders and not
just overcoming racism.
Further to this, according to the Moynihan report as Kelly mentions in his book, in future,
the blacks will be so far away not only political matter but also on economic matters and as a
result, the blacks will fight back for their freedom in involvement on these matters. The
Moynihan report in agreement with the Black Nationalist had further suggested that the
responsibility of a black woman lies in being a housewife where they will be contributing to
the society by creating and taking care of the babies. This was not received well by black
women because they felt that they are being taken for granted, and as a result, they wanted to
show how superior beings they were. That is why the Black women joined together and start
a movement. The feminist movement that created by these women inspired Kelly al
throughout his book “one of the most comprehensive versions of freedom I can think of, one
that recognizes the deep interconnectedness of struggles around race, gender, sexuality,
culture, class, and spirituality” (154). From the illustration of Kelly, it’s evident that the
feminist movement was so powerful. According to Kelly, many people thought that the main
problems that people were facing then based on racism. But the creation of the feminist
movement has proved that gender issue was also the main problem.
The Dream of Black Liberation

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Robin Kelly in his book dreams of freedom has also reconstructed the experiences of
black people using the black liberation dream. Kelly uses a strong quote as well to describe
the essence and the need for black liberation “Schoolhouse Rock didn’t teach me a damn
thing about “freedom” (28). With this quote, Kelly explains that the Negro has been pushed
to the limit by his oppressors and liberation is now inevitable. The fact that that this quote
was in existence since the 1960s when Kelly was still young further and the black people
were mentioning more often like a song further proves that the negro has been oppressed for
a very long time and the negro’s desire for liberation did not start today. Kelly further goes
ahead to explain that during their time as children “Everybody and their mama spoke of
freedom” (28). From this quote, Kelly reconstructs Africans to be desperate for freedom. This
is so because for older people to start involving young children on the discussion of serious
matters like freedom, it means that the Negro had tried all means for a very long time to free
himself but it failed. That is why now children are being told the stories of the need for the
Negro’s freedom so that they grow up knowing they are being raised up as slaves and their
duty is to continue fighting for their freedom even if their parents will be gone. This is a very
painful experience for black people especially given that children are helpless and they are
being subjected to such serious matters at that early age. In addition, Kelly suggests that all of
the African countries were calling for freedom “free South Africa…free Angola... Free…”
(28). This reconstructs the experience of black as people that were generally slaves that is, the
entire continent was subjected to slavery and the entire continent was yearning for the
liberation of the black people. The fact that freedom had become a marketing tool for selling
various products to the black people in the hope of preparing them for independence further
proves that the Negro had lost all option to liberate himself from oppressors and was ready to
hang on anything to save him.

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Freedom and love influence Kelly’s reconstruction of black feminism and black
liberation. Regarding the black feminism, it’s out of the love for feminism that the black
women formed the feminist movement to fight for their freedom for gender equality. The
Moynihan report just like the Black Nationalist considered women inferior in society and the
only role they could play was to create and take care of the babies. This angered women who
felt they were not considered as equal human beings. Hence, to show they love themselves,
they had to fight for their freedom. Regarding Black liberation, Kelly used freedom and love
in various instances. First, Kelly suggests since they were young in the early 1960s they have
been familiar with the need for the Black Freedom. Every Black woman used to tell her
children about the need for the Black liberation. The fact that Africans were all united in the
fight for Black liberation means that the Africans loved freedom. All the years that Africans
have tried to fight for their liberation has Kelly puts it, the Negro has not given up. This
further proves that the Negro loves to free and he will do everything regardless of the time it
will take to free himself.
Conclusion
Robin Kelly in his book dreams of freedom takes us through the problems of slavery
in an imaginary manner that is full of visions. Kelly believes that it’s only through
imagination that the free world can first be created. With this book, Kelly wants to instill the
need for a free society to the people by enabling to imagine the struggle that is needed for a
free society to be achieved and the benefits of the free society. Throughout history, there are
men and women who have been involved in the struggle for the achievement of the free
society and Kelly widely mentions them in his book and their achievements. The information
of the struggle to realize a free society as explained in this book is in form of dreams and
there are various dreams used, but this paper focused on two main dreams that are the dream
of Black liberation and the dream of Feminism. The Black liberation has been coupled by

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various hardships and many people have lost their lives in the struggle. Kelly uses the Black
Liberation dream to explain the discrimination and the hardships that the blacks have gone
through in their fight for freedom. Similarly, Kelly uses the feminism dream to explain the
discrimination and hardship that the black woman has gone through in her journey to realize
a gender equal society. The dream for black liberation and black feminism are based on the
concept of freedom and love. This is so because the quest for liberation of the Negro was
brought about by the love of freedom and equal society.

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Reference
Kelley, R. D. (2002). Freedom dreams: The black radical imagination. Beacon Press.