AP African American Studies Practice Quiz: The Black Feminist Movement, Womanism, and Intersectionality
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 11 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 11
All Questions (11)
A) The activism of Black women in earlier centuries, such as Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman.
B) The academic framework of intersectionality introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw.
C) The literary works of Alice Walker and her concept of womanism.
D) The political strategies of the Boston-based Combahee River Collective.
Correct Answer: A
The text explicitly states that 'In the 1970s, the Black feminist movement drew inspiration from these Black women activists [Jarena Lee, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman] and others who highlighted Black women’s unique experiences of racism and sexism.' The other options occurred during or after the 1970s movement.
A) The prioritization of sexism over other forms of oppression.
B) The establishment of a separate political party for Black feminists.
C) The freedom of all people by dismantling all systems of oppression.
D) The formal adoption of 'womanism' by all feminist groups.
Correct Answer: C
The text states that the Collective's Statement 'argued that Black women’s liberation would free all members of society as it would require the destruction of all systems of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, classism, homophobia).'
A) The lack of historical recognition for 19th-century activists.
B) The economic disparities between different social classes.
C) The influence of homophobia and classism in political movements.
D) The presence of racism within the feminist community and sexism within Black communities.
Correct Answer: D
The text defines 'womanist' as a concept that 'builds upon earlier forms of Black women’s activism through opposition to racism in the feminist community and sexism in Black communities.'
A) A political strategy used by the Combahee River Collective to gain support.
B) A historical term for the activism of figures like Harriet Tubman.
C) A framework for understanding the distinct experiences created by the interaction of multiple social identities and systems of inequality.
D) A literary movement started by Alice Walker to promote Black women writers.
Correct Answer: C
The text defines 'intersectionality' as 'a framework for understanding the distinct experiences of Black women through the interactions of their social, economic, and political identities with systems of inequality and privilege.'
A) Jarena Lee
B) Sojourner Truth
C) Harriet Tubman
D) Alice Walker
Correct Answer: C
The text clearly states, 'Taking their name from Harriet Tubman’s famous Combahee River raid that freed over 700 African Americans during the Civil War, the Combahee River Collective...'
A) Alice Walker
B) Jarena Lee
C) Harriet Tubman
D) Kimberlé Crenshaw
Correct Answer: D
The text specifies that 'In the 1990s, scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality”...'
A) being insufficiently focused on economic classism.
B) failing to adequately address the specific, combined oppressions faced by Black women.
C) ignoring the contributions of historical figures like Sojourner Truth.
D) not collaborating effectively on shared political goals.
Correct Answer: B
By defining 'womanism' through its 'opposition to racism in the feminist community and sexism in Black communities,' the text implies that these respective movements were failing to address the unique position of Black women who experienced both forms of oppression.
A) Intersectionality, Womanism, Combahee River Collective Statement
B) Combahee River Collective Statement, Womanism, Intersectionality
C) Womanism, Combahee River Collective Statement, Intersectionality
D) Intersectionality, Combahee River Collective Statement, Womanism
Correct Answer: B
The text dates the Combahee River Collective Statement to 1977 (1970s), Alice Walker's coining of 'womanist' to the 1980s, and Kimberlé Crenshaw's introduction of 'intersectionality' to the 1990s.
A) The 1970s
B) The 1990s
C) The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
D) The early twentieth century
Correct Answer: C
The passage explicitly states, 'In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, activists such as Jarena Lee, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman resisted injustice and oppression...'
A) The historical analysis of Harriet Tubman's raid.
B) The specific dual critique inherent in Womanism.
C) The framework of Intersectionality, which analyzes how systems of oppression interact.
D) The activism of 18th-century figures like Jarena Lee.
Correct Answer: C
The Collective's focus on destroying all systems of oppression (racism, sexism, classism, homophobia) is a practical application of the ideas later formalized by Crenshaw's 'intersectionality,' which provides a framework for understanding how these systems interact and compound to create unique experiences of oppression.
A) Both were primarily based in Boston.
B) Both were led by the same individuals.
C) The concept of 'intersectionality' provided a theoretical framework for understanding the unique experiences that earlier activists highlighted.
D) The scholarship of the 1990s was a direct refutation of the work done by earlier activists.
Correct Answer: C
The text concludes by stating, 'The concept of “intersectionality” connected Black feminist scholarship with earlier Black women’s activism,' building on the idea that early activists 'highlighted Black women’s unique experiences of racism and sexism.'