Celestine Ware

Celestine Ware (née Cellestine Ware, died August 21, 2010) was a radical and Black feminist theorist and activist. A member of the New York Radical Feminists, she authored Woman Power: The Movement for Women's Liberation.

Early life Ware was born in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1962..

Feminist groups

New York Radical Feminists In the late 1960s, Celestine Ware joined the New York Radical Feminists. Ware was one of the few Black women in the radical feminist group. In childhood, while girls' future identities were predetermined as submissive homemakers and mothers, their egos were repressed, while boys could explore a plethora of activities and "fight, get dirty, be aggressive and be self-assertive." The text stated that in schools, subjects that teach mastery and control over the natural world, such as science and math, were oriented towards male students. School counselors, it stated, recommended nursing for girls, whereas boys were encouraged to obtain the primary and dominant position of a doctor.

Ware divided the contemporary women's liberation movement into three categories: NOW, or reform feminism; the WLM, or the women's liberation movement, representing feminist thoughts that all evade revolution; and radical feminism. Ware defined the term, "radical" as "revolutionary," conveying that radical feminism is a complete revolution. Ware described how the institution of marriage is revolted against under radical feminism, as this ideology advocates for the elimination of marriage.

Ware also utilized her book to promote the positions of the New York Radical Feminists. The notion of consciousness refers to becoming aware of social injustice and inequalities and how it impact all women, regardless of race. She advocated that consciousness-raising enables feminists to build group intimacy, create internal democracy, direct concern toward institutionalized oppression, and provide women with the skills to comprehend and initiate political action. A revised chapter from the book "Black Feminism" was republished in the landmark feminist anthology Notes From the Third Year.

While Ware's book Woman Power upheld the nineteenth-century feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as precursors for the radical feminism of the 1970s, she pointed out that racism and exclusion of Black women then and in the 1960s and 1970s were key problems in the movement and that the concerns of White women had been historically prioritized over those of women of color. Ware took a "constructive approach" that urged Black women to take initiative in proactive engagement and participation in the movement, and to center their voices and demands. She believed that creating a better world required both practical efforts and a collective fostering of various moral and emotional disciplines. Ware strongly advocated for a female social science, female political systems, and female language and culture, which she believed is the biggest contribution to achieving self-discovery.