In a 2013 article for Signs, Sarah Haley, an associate professor of African American Studies and Gender Studies at UCLA, examines Black women on Georgia’s chain gangs to articulate how race and gender shaped the post-slavery carceral system.
What is Black Feminist Thought?
Black feminist thought and Black feminist practice inform one another. Collins highlights that Black feminist thought, as a critical social theory, provides Black women with the tools to resist intersecting oppressions. By critical social theory, Collins means that the knowledge of Black feminist thought serves the purpose of ending social and economic injustices.
Marriage According to Black Lesbians and Bisexual Women
Marriage among same-sex couples constitutes less than 2% of marriages in the United States according to the 2019 American Community Survey. A larger percentage of respondents in same-sex married couples identify as Black than do people in opposite-sex married couples. While 7.2% of respondents in opposite-sex married couples identify as Black, 8.8% of people in… Continue reading Marriage According to Black Lesbians and Bisexual Women
Academic Books by and about Black Women – 2020 Edition
It’s that time of year again! Since 2017 I’ve compiled a list of books written by or about Black women and Black feminism. This year’s list is somewhat short, likely due to delayed publication dates for some projects. As always, please contact me if you don’t see a book on the list. The only requirement… Continue reading Academic Books by and about Black Women – 2020 Edition
What the WAP: Part 3 – How to Combat Misogynoir and Affirm Black Women’s Sexuality
Dr. Jennifer Turner conceived of What the WAP as a series that centers Black feminist scholars and their perspectives on contemporary Black sexual politics. In the first few parts of this series, Dr. Turner engages in conversation with Dr. Melissa C. Brown. In the third part of the series, Dr. Turner and Dr. Brown reflect on how misogynoir shaped the response among rap music fans this summer after a Black Canadian male rapper shot Megan thee Stallion, which she wrote about in a recent New York Times op-ed. They also think through ways Black women can pursue sexual agency and autonomy in the face of gendered and racialized oppression. In what follows, they respond to the questions: (1) What do you think the reaction to WAP and Megan Thee Stallion’s shooting say about how Black women’s bodies and sexualities are viewed in the American popular imagination? And (2)What steps can we take to combat the misogynoir that was directed towards Cardi and Meg in light of WAP? Be sure to check out part one and part two of the series.
What the WAP: Part 2 – The Sexualization of Black Girls and Women
Dr. Jennifer Turner conceived of What the WAP as a series that centers Black feminist scholars and their perspectives on contemporary Black Sexual Politics. View the first part of the series here. In the second part of the series, Dr. Turner and Dr. Brown cover the topic of sexualization and how it affects Black women… Continue reading What the WAP: Part 2 – The Sexualization of Black Girls and Women
What the WAP: Part 1 – Black Feminist Scholars on Black Women’s Popular Culture
What Black feminist scholarship, literature, or concepts came to mind for you when you reflected on the song and video for WAP?
Why Black Webcam Models Earn Less Money Online
Webcam models have experienced a boom in business due to COVID-19, according to an article in the New York Post published back in March 2020. A 2015 study by sociologist Angela Jones, however, suggests that not all webcam models will gain from the global lockdown. In “For Black Models Scroll Down,” Jones reveals how Black… Continue reading Why Black Webcam Models Earn Less Money Online
Why Black Girls Need the Police Talk Too
The police talk refers to a socialization practice wherein Black parents educate their children on how to maneuver encounters with law enforcement. According to Shannon Malone Gonzalez, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, parents deploy double consciousness to inform their children of how police officers view Black people. Double consciousness, as theorized… Continue reading Why Black Girls Need the Police Talk Too
#SayHerName Bibliography
Apollo Rydzik, a graduate student in sociology at Stanford University, created this bibliography for graduate students, and Ph.D. scholars conducting literature reviews of police violence against Black women, LGBTQ people, and the #SayHerName campaign. This bibliography presents citations, abstracts, and keywords for scholarship written between 2015 and 2020. It includes articles, books, and essays, on these topics and spans several disciplines. Specifically, this bibliography contains citations from scholars in sociology, political science, law,… Continue reading #SayHerName Bibliography
