Black Women in Politics: Demanding Citizenship, Challenging Power, and Seeking Justice

Description

This book explores how Diasporic Black women engage in politics, highlighting three dimensions--citizenship, power, and justice--that are foundational to intersectionality theory and politics as developed by Black women and other women of color. By extending beyond particular time periods, locations, and singular definitions of politics, Black Women in Politics sets itself apart in the field of women's and gender studies in three ways: by focusing on contemporary Black politics not only in the United States, but also the African Diaspora; by showcasing politics along a broad trajectory, including social movements, formal politics, public policy, media studies, and epistemology; and by including a multidisciplinary range of scholars, with a strong concentration of work by political scientists, a group whose work is often excluded or limited in edited collections. The final result expands our repertoire of methodological tools and concepts for discussing and assessing Black women's lives, the conditions under which they live, their labor, and the politics they enact to improve their circumstances. Julia S. Jordan-Zachery is Director of Black Studies and Professor of Public and Community Service at Providence College. She is the author of Black Women, Cultural Images, and Social Policy and Shadow Bodies: Black Women, Ideology, Representation, and Politics. Nikol G. Alexander-Floyd is Associate Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Political Science at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. She is the author of Gender, Race, and Nationalism in Contemporary Black Politics. Contents......Page 8 List of Figures and Tables......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Black Women’s Political Labor An Introduction ......Page 14 Intersectionality......Page 17 Where We Stand: Situating Black Women in Politics......Page 20 Moving From Silence to Voice......Page 24 Invisibility and Unmasking Power Structures......Page 27 Black Women’s Self-Actualization and Black Masculinist Politics......Page 30 Space Making and Self-Actualization......Page 31 Conclusion......Page 33 References......Page 35 Section I: Black Feminists Doing Intersectionality Work......Page 40 References......Page 43 1. Why Political Scientists Don’t Study Black Women, but Historians and Sociologists Do: On Intersectionality and the Remapping of the Study of Black Political Women......Page 44 Overview and Research Design......Page 46 Findings: General Numeric and Statistical Profile......Page 48 Discussion......Page 53 Suggestions for Future Research......Page 61 Notes......Page 62 2. “I Ain’t Your Darn Help”: Black Women as the Help in Intersectionality Research in Political Science......Page 66 Black Women as Bridges: The Help and Intersectionality......Page 70 Theoretical Foundation: Silences, Muting, and Omissions......Page 73 Finding Black Women: Article Selection Criteria......Page 75 Trends in Scholarship......Page 76 Discussion......Page 78 References......Page 80 Section II: Black Feminist Policy Analysis......Page 84 References......Page 87 Introduction......Page 88 The African-Caribbean Population in the UK......Page 90 Racial-Gender Health Inequalities......Page 93 African Caribbean Women in the NHS......Page 97 Black Caribbean Women as Health Activists and Activists for Change......Page 98 Developing Intersectional Research on the Health and Well-Being of African Caribbean Women......Page 99 References......Page 102 Introduction......Page 108 Racialized Gender Disparities in the Criminal Justice System......Page 110 The Intersectional Dynamics of Race, Gender, and Criminal Status......Page 112 The Discursive Narratives of Black Women Felons Reentering Society......Page 115 Discussion......Page 125 Conclusion......Page 127 Notes......Page 129 References......Page 130 5. Lost Tribes: An Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis of How US HIV/AIDS Policy Fails to “Rescue” Black Orphans......Page 136 The Challenge: Making Visible AIDS Orphans in the United States......Page 138 Applying Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis......Page 139 Intersectionality and Intersectional Stigma: Race, AIDS Orphans, and Visibility......Page 141 AIDS: Race, Gender, Epidemiology, and Public Opinion......Page 143 Policy Gaps......Page 145 Discussion......Page 146 References......Page 148 Section III: Diasporic Black Women and the Global Political Arena......Page 152 Reference......Page 154 Introduction......Page 156 The Naming/Labeling of Blackness......Page 157 Indigenous Identity and Matrifocality in the Context of Land Politics......Page 159 The Race, Gender, and Class of Honduras’s Land Policies......Page 160 Galpones Casaberos as Political Bodies of Resistance and Wealth Redistribution......Page 164 Socialization in the Production of Ereba......Page 168 Garifuna Women and the Future of Politics......Page 172 Conclusion: Black Political Women......Page 176 References......Page 177 7. Woman Out of Place: Portia Simpson-Miller and Middle-Class Politics in Jamaica......Page 182 Middle-Class Politics and Its Gendered Norms......Page 185 Coming to Power......Page 189 Fixing Gender Matters......Page 192 Portia and the Poor......Page 195 Defeat......Page 197 Conclusion......Page 199 Notes......Page 200 References......Page 201 Introduction......Page 204 Black Nationalism and the UNIA during the 1940s......Page 208 Black Nationalist Women, Gender, and Diasporic Politics......Page 211 Conclusion......Page 221 Notes......Page 222 References......Page 223 Section IV: Discourses, Movements, and Representation......Page 230 Reference......Page 232 9. Morrisonian Democracy: The Literary Praxis of Black Feminist Political Engagement......Page 234 The Perils of US Democracy......Page 236 Empathy and the Moral Imagination......Page 240 Historical Thinking and Narrative Knowledge......Page 244 Intersectional Identities and Founding Narratives......Page 246 Conclusion......Page 251 Notes......Page 252 References......Page 253 10. Illegitimate Appetites: Michelle Obama’s Anti-Obesity Campaign as Sexual Regulation......Page 256 First Ladies and the Nation......Page 257 Bringing Intersectionality to the Mother-In-Chief......Page 259 Domesticity, Responsibility, and Deracialization......Page 260 Black Cultural Pathology Paradigm Meets the Anti-Obesity Campaign......Page 264 Deflecting the Image of the Bad Black Mom......Page 265 Narrative of Decline......Page 266 Nation and the Cult of True Womanhood......Page 268 Implications and Conclusion......Page 271 References......Page 273 Introduction......Page 276 The Political Activism of Black Women in the Domain of Reproductive Politics......Page 278 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Ongoing Politicization of Women’s Health......Page 282 Data and Methods......Page 285 Findings......Page 287 Conclusion and Implications for Future Research......Page 294 References......Page 296 Contributors......Page 300 Index......Page 304