THE MULTITEXTURED LIVES OF WOMEN OF COLOR

In this commentary, I suggest that our work with women of color should be held together by three primary threads: (a) appreciation for histo ry as we decipher and interpret the adaptive strategies of women of co lor; (b) recognition of the intersections of race, gender and class as central to our work; and (c) self-critical examination of the meaning s we attach to ''difference.'' The papers in the current special issue provide good examples regarding the importance of each thread. I argu e that attention to these three themes should help us to keep our focu s on contextually driven questions and to move forward our appreciatio n for the lives of women of color.