“We Were a Musical Movement”

Chapter 3 , “‘We Were a Musical Movement’: Labelle’s Embryonic Black Feminist Funk Rock and the Emergence of the Black Feminist Funk Movement,” examines Labelle’s gospel-influenced funk rock and argues that it mirrored many of the major themes of the Black Women’s Liberation Movement and the Black Feminist Art Movement. Touching on a range of topics, from anti-racism and anti-sexism to eroticism and Afrofuturism, the motifs of 1970s Black feminism freely float through Labelle’s lyrics, music, and legendary performances. Beginning with a discussion of their origins as the girl group Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles, the chapter moves on to their pivotal decision to transform themselves from a 1960s girl group to a groundbreaking 1970s funk rock group who engaged Black women’s relationship to rock music, the politics of Black respectability, second-wave feminism, and women-centered sexuality (including queer sexuality). Next the chapter critically analyzes Labelle’s innovative albums, including their hit song “Lady Marmalade,” as formative Black feminist funk that announced the emergence and sustenance of the Black Feminist Funk Movement. Ultimately, Labelle set the tone and provided a foundation for the two women who are widely regarded as the “Queens of Funk,” Chaka Khan and Betty Davis, the subjects of Chapters 4 and 5 , respectively.