Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought

Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought

Language: English

Pages: 577

ISBN: 1565842561

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


The first major anthology to trace the development, from the early 1800s to the present, of black feminist thought in the United States, Words of Fire is Beverly Guy-Sheftall’s comprehensive collection of writings, in the feminist tradition, of more than sixty African American women. From the pioneering work of abolitionist Maria Miller Stewart and anti-lynching crusader Ida Wells-Barnett to the writings of contemporary feminist critics Michele Wallace and bell hooks, black women have been writing about the multiple jeopardies—racism, sexism, and classicm—that have made it imperative for them to forge a brand of feminism uniquely their own.

List of Contributors: Margaret Walker Alexander Sadie Tanner Mosell Alexander Frances Beale Shirley Chisholm Cheryl Clarke Pearl Cleage Johnnetta B. Cole Patricia Hill Collins The Combahee River Collective Anna Julia Cooper Angela Davis Alice Dunbar-Nelson Julia A.J. Foote Amy Jacques Garvey Paula Giddings Jacquelyn Grant Patricia Haden Evelynn Hammonds Lorraine Hansberry Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Elizabeth Higginbotham Darlene Clark Hine bell hooks Claudia Jones June Jordan Gloria Joseph Florynce “Flo” Kennedy Deborah K. King Linda La Rue Audre Lorde Tracye Matthews Elise Johnson McDougald Donna Middleton Gertrude Bustill Mossell Pauli Murray Barbara Omolade Barbara Ransby Beth E. Richie Patricia Robinson Barbara Smith Maria Miller Stewart Ula Taylor Mary Church Terrell Pauline Terrelonge Sojourner Truth Alice Walker Michele Wallace Mary Ann Weathers Ida Wells-Barnett E. Frances White Margaret Wilkerson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

occupations, the unemployed, the bullied, the beaten, the battered, the ridiculed, the slandered, the trivialized, the raped, and the sterilized, the lost millions ... of beautiful, creative, and momentous lives turned to ashes on the pyre of gender identity” (144—45). “A New Politics of Sexuality” appeared in Technical Difficulties (1992) and was adapted from her keynote address at the Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Student Association at Stanford University in April 1991. It attacks heterosexism

self-esteem and empowerment? rebellion against the depersonalization of sex? or perhaps, as a century ago, does this finding represent the effort to control male sexuality? The answers to these questions are important, as the babies of teenagers are more apt to be underweight and thus have learning and other physical disabilities. There is also tragedy in another statistic: forty-eight percent of the teenagers who intentionally got pregnant later regretted their decision. Even college students,

had sincerely been the depiction of the cruel black male character Mister, as played by Danny Glover (in a film that is, after all, about a black woman, whose struggle is precisely that of overcoming abuse by two particularly unsavory men), they were late in sounding the alarm. What of black actors, men and women, who play CIA agents? United States spies? Members of COINTELPRO? These characters are used to legitimize real organizations that are involved in assassinating our leaders and heroes

necessity of a study of one’s own. If even this odd room cannot be utilized for your purposes, have at least your own corner in some cheerful room. A friend who edits a special department in a weekly has in her own chamber a desk with plenty of drawers and small separate compartments. The desk just fits in an alcove of the room, with a revolving-chair in front. What a satisfaction to put everything in order, turn the key, and feel that all is safe—no busy hands, no stray breeze can carry away or

courageous, militant Negro mother imprisoned in a Georgia cell. The measure of support was so great that the Georgia authorities allowed the delegation to see her unimpeded. Since that time, however, in retaliation against the developing mass movement, the Georgia officials have moved Mrs. Ingram, who is suffering from a severe heart condition, to a worse penitentiary, at Reedsville. Support to the work of this committee becomes a prime necessity for all progressives, particularly women.

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