black feminism.

i didn't come to admire, appreciate, or extol the values of modern black feminists--walker, hooks, giovanni, and morrison--until my first encounter with the confused pecola in the bluest eye. until then, my feminist model was the sandy blonde curly-but-not-kinky haired jessie spano (elizabeth berkley) of saved by the bell fame. this chatacter typified my grade school self: smart, self-righteous, and at the head of her class. in reality, lisa turtle was my favorite character because of our shared brown skin tone. i made no bones about my admiration for lisa. she had an eye for fashion forward accessories, kept the boys at bay, and was--quite frankly--a sista.

lisa batted her eyes for football jocks but jessie, well, jessie held protest signs. she was strong but feminine, assertive but graceful--a fairy tale revolutionary in the mind of my suburban black girlhood. it is clear: jessie spano is the first feminist i ever looked up to.