African American women in the early-twentieth century made significant contributions toward the development of a black feminist tradition, were at the forefront of black nationalism, and challenged the apparent dichotomy between black nationalism and integrationism. Kate Dossett examines the political thought and cultural production of prominent black women leaders in the years between the founding of the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 and the National Council of Negro Women in 1935.

By featuring the contributions of women like the pioneering black hairdresser, Madam C. J. Walker, and her daughter, as well as club woman Mary McLeod Bethune and United Negro Improvement Association activist Amy Jacques Garvey, Dossett also makes a distinctive contribution to the field of women's history by challenging the reverse class bias that has meant that middle-class women have been deemed less worthy of study, or worse, dubbed assimilationist and accused of lacking race pride.

While revealing the depth and complexity of black women's thought in the early twentieth century, and highlighting their contribution to a black feminist tradition of activism, Bridging Race Divides positions black women at the forefront of both intellectual and practical endeavors in the struggle for black autonomy.