Barbara Smith is an American lesbian feminist and socialist who has made a tremendous impact on black feminism. Since the 1970s, she has been active as a scholar, activist, lecturer, author and publisher of Black feminist thought. Barbara was born in Ohio and grew up with her sister, Mother (before her death when Barbara was 9), her grandmother and aunts-all whom prioritized education. Smith pursued an MA in literature at the University of Pittsburgh, where she first got involved in the Gay Liberation Movement and Women's Movement. She settled in Boston, MA and met Margaret Sloan, a founder of the National Black Feminist Organization. She worked with them to form a Boston NFBO. The group split not long after, and the Combahee River Collective started. They wrote a manifesto, detailing their objectives-including that lesbianism is a legitimate identity. They also dealt with issues such as reproductive rights, rape, prison reform and violence against women. In 1973, she began teaching an African-American Writers class at Emerson College. She became frustrated that the majority of works were about men, she founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. She published several pamphlets and books, including "Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology" and "The Bridge Called my Back". Later in her life, she was elected to the Albany, NY city council in 2005 and reelected in 2009. She has continued to lecture and speak, and donated lectures to the Lesbian History Archives in Brooklyn, NY. She also appeared in the documentary "Black Is...Black Isn't" as well as "Makers: Women Who Make America".