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

Description

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 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 14 Selections......Page 22 Acknowledgments......Page 26 Introduction......Page 28 Introducution......Page 50 Maria MIller Stewart......Page 52 Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality, the Sure Foundation on Which We Must Build......Page 53 Lecture Delivered at the Franklin Hall......Page 57 Sojourner Truth......Page 62 Woman's Rights......Page 63 When Woman Gets Her Rights Man Will Be Right......Page 64 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper......Page 66 Woman's Political Future......Page 67 Anna Julia Cooper......Page 70 The Status of Woman in America......Page 71 Julia A.J. Foote......Page 78 Women in the Gospel......Page 79 Gertrude Bustill Mossell......Page 82 The Opposite Point of View......Page 83 A Lofty Study......Page 87 Mary Church Terrell......Page 90 The Progress of Colored Women......Page 91 Ida Wells-Barnett......Page 96 Lynch Law in America......Page 97 Introduction......Page 104 Elise Johnson McDougald......Page 106 The Struggle of Negro Women For Sex and Race Emancipation......Page 107 Alice Dunbar-Nelson......Page 112 The Negro Woman and the Ballot......Page 113 Amy Jacques Garvey......Page 116 Our Women Getting Into the Larger Life......Page 118 Women as Leaders......Page 120 Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander......Page 122 Negro Women in Our Economic Life......Page 123 Florynce "Flo" Kennedy......Page 128 A Comparative Study: Accentuating the Similarities of the Societal Position of Women and Negroes......Page 129 Claudia Jones......Page 134 An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman!......Page 135 Lorraine Hansberry......Page 152 Simone de Beauvoir and The Second Sex: An American Commentary......Page 155 Introduction......Page 170 Fracnes Beale......Page 172 Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female......Page 173 Mary Ann Weathers......Page 184 An Argument for Black WOmen's Liberation as a Revolutionary Force......Page 185 Linda La Rue......Page 190 The Black Movement and Women's Liberation......Page 191 Patricia Haden, Donna Middleton, and Patricial Robinson......Page 202 A Historical and Critical Essay for Black Women......Page 204 Pauli Murray......Page 212 The Liberation of Black Women......Page 213 Angela Davis......Page 226 Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves......Page 227 Michele Wallace......Page 246 Anger in Isolation: A Black Feminist's Search for Sisterhood......Page 247 Introduction......Page 256 The Combahee River Collective......Page 258 A Black Feminist Statement......Page 259 Cheryl Clarke......Page 268 Lesbianism: An Act of Resistance......Page 269 Barbara Smith......Page 280 Some Home Truths on the Contemporary Black Feminist Movement......Page 281 bell hooks......Page 296 Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory......Page 297 Audre Lorde......Page 310 Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference......Page 311 Deborah K. King......Page 320 Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Contest of a Black Feminist Ideology......Page 321 Jacquelyn Grant......Page 346 Black Theology and the Black Woman......Page 347 Patricia Hill Collins......Page 364 The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought......Page 365 Introduction......Page 386 Barbara Omolade......Page 388 Hearts of Darkness......Page 389 Darlene Clark Hine......Page 406 Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women in the Middle West: Preliminary Thoughts on the Culture of Dissemblance......Page 407 Shirley Chisholm......Page 416 Facing the Abortion Question......Page 417 Beth E. Richie......Page 424 Battered Black Women: A Challenge for the Black Community......Page 425 June Jordan......Page 432 A New Politics of Sexuality......Page 434 Paula Giddings......Page 440 The Last Taboo......Page 441 Pearl Cleage......Page 456 What Can I Say?......Page 457 Evelynn Hammonds......Page 460 Missing Persons: African American Women, AIDS, and the History of the Disease......Page 461 Introduction......Page 478 Margaret Walker Alexander......Page 480 Black Women in Academia......Page 481 Gloria Joseph......Page 488 Black Feminist Pedagogy and Schooling in Capitalist White America......Page 489 Elizabeth Higginbotham......Page 500 Designing an Inclusive Curriculum: Bringing All Women into the Core......Page 501 Introduction......Page 514 Pauline Terrelonge......Page 516 Feminist Consciousness and Black Women......Page 517 E. Frances White......Page 530 Africa on My Mind: Gender, Counterdiscourse, and African American Nationalism......Page 531 Barbara Ransby and Tracye Matthews......Page 552 Black Popular Culture and the Transcendence of Patriarchal Illusions......Page 553 Alice Walker......Page 564 In the Closest of the Soul......Page 565 Epilogue......Page 576 Selected Bibliography......Page 580 Index......Page 594