Black Feminist Research Articles

“Look a Negro!”: self-authorship, self-definition, and the wake of anti-blackness

In this manuscript, I lift Black feminisms as a methodological intervention on a holistic meaning-making theory and its relationship to anti-Blackness. Specifically, I employed a Black feminist literary criticism, which presumes that Black people have cultivated living and survival practices throughout their history in the United States. I analyzed 7 full-length books and essays written by James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. Additionally, in attending to Black feminist theorizing, I used creative prose to situate myself in the text by locating the curated findings from the literary analysis in my mother’s rearing practices. Pointing to the historical ways Black people have lived in the wake of anti-Black structures, I depart from the meaning-making pathways articulated by self-authorship and point to the possibilities of self-defining praxis for Black people.

“streaming out of the atlas”: Global Consciousness beyond the East and West within US Black Feminism and Audre Lorde’s Poetry of Engagement

“streaming out of the atlas”: Global Consciousness beyond the East and West within US Black Feminism and Audre Lorde’s Poetry of Engagement

Black feminist theory in maternal health research: A review of concepts and future directions.

Black maternal health and well-being has become a necessary focal point for health researchers due to higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity for Black women. However, what is often absent from this scholarship within medical sociology is Black Feminist Theory as a framework for understanding Black women's health and well-being. Drawing on Black feminist and maternal health scholarship, I argue that integrating Black feminist approaches in maternal health research expands our understandings of what processes and mechanisms are impacting the health and well-being of Black mothers, while also highlighting the importance of maternal health research that solely centers Black women. Specifically, I focus on three concepts of Black Feminist Theory as it relates to Black maternal health research: (1) examining Black women's standpoint as credible, (2) acknowledging the historical context of multiple systems of oppression against Black women, and (3) incorporating a perspective that acknowledges both disadvantages, as well as empowerment, in the lives of Black women. I end this review with a discussion of future directions for sociological research in maternal health, including the importance of acknowledging how Black mothers are both impacted by, and resisting, social structures that may add nuance to our current understandings of Black maternal health and well-being.

A reflection on the decolonization discourse in nursing.

Colonialism, in its many forms and stages is often imposed as being central to the narratives of colonizedpeople and their cultures, as well as the genesis of their knowledge. In colonial discourse, lands and the occupants of these lands were 'discovered',further implying that colonized people did not have their own ways of knowing (nor even existence) before colonization. This narrative has been embedded within Euro-American fields of study, including nursing, in which caring and healing practices that exist outside of a colonial lens are dismissed and complicity with colonialism is downplayed or sanitized. This paper is a reflection on the current discourse on decolonizing nursing shaped by postcolonial, critical and Black feminist philosophies. After examining the decolonization discourse in nursing, I argue that current calls to decolonize nursing lack a clear description of the goals and process of doing so, making it unfeasible to hold those in the process of decolonizing accountable. In addition, the lack of intentionality in reckoning with past and current forms of colonialism embedded in nursing hinders the ability to engage with lessons that could shape the future. I conclude this discourse by discussing practical steps toward centrering diverse ways of knowing, and ensuring this process prioritizes communities and nurse scholars who have historically been silenced.

How does it feel to be a problem: tokenization of black women student affair professionals in white academic spaces

In this article, the author argues that Black women have experienced heightened levels of tokenism and hypervisibility since the 2016 election. By engaging with Black Feminist Theory and Kanter’s tokenism framework, the author outlines how tokenism impacts the esteem and well-being of Black women student affairs professionals. More specifically, this study examines how tokenism is used to contain stereotypes, using Black energy, identities, and painful experiences for institutional gain and social justice mirage. The author contends that Black women have been tokenized in the following themes: a single expert on Blackness, an ideal worker or placeholder for diversity initiatives, and an agenda keeper to sustain the white agenda. This article concludes with a reflection on what white academic spaces should consider implementing to welcome Black women’s voices and presence while dismantling embedded racism.

#JusticePourMirabelle: The Resurgence of a Transnational Cameroonian Feminist Movement

For decades, African women have participated in the Black feminist struggle for women’s rights and racial, social, economic, and political justice (Collins 2017; Tamale 2020). In the 1950s, during the fight for independence across the continent, a radical and transnational feminist movement emerged with African women’s protests to “crack the norms of gender and colonial order” (Ndengue 2016) in both urban and rural postcolonial contexts (Falola and Paddock 2011; Mougoué 2019; Nchoji Nkwi 1985; Ndengue 2018). Protests have transnational effects (Johnson-Odim 2009; Terretta 2013). Today, transnationalism relies on social media platforms as sites of calls to action. They constitute alternative public spaces for expression and activism in constrained political environments (Ngono 2018) and platforms that facilitate informal transnational connections. These transnational connections are accompanied by explicit and assertive claims of feminism by a growing number of (young) women.

“Come back home, sista!”: reactions to Black women in interracial relationships with white men

ABSTRACT Black women in interracial relationships with white men perceive experiencing varying treatment due to expectations of who Black women should date and marry. Black women (N = 23) from across the United States describe their experiences dating and/or marrying white men. Interviewees explicitly and repeatedly express believing that they face social sanctions for being with white men. Judgment from Black men leads many Black women to feel shame, frustration, and that race x gender power differentials are at play in these responses. Judgment from white women leads Black women to believe the validity of their relationships is discredited. Black Feminist Thought and systemic racism reveal why Black women believe they face judgement for dating and/or marrying white men. Studying the perceived reactions to individuals with a double minority status (Black women) and a double majority status (white men) offers insight into the way social status can impact romantic relationships.

A journey of a Black Woman’s Archivist: Phyllis Ntantala, Margaret Walker and Queen Mother Moore’s quest for a Pan-African Liberation

ABSTRACTPhyllis Ntantala (7 January 1920–17 July 2016), anti-apartheid writer, political activist, educator, and mother, encouraged me to become a Black Woman’s Archivist. A Black Woman’s Archivist excavates and preserves the stories of black transnational women whose works create, impact, and contribute to multiple black radical movements. By using a portraiture methodology, I share the history of Africana women like Phyllis Ntantala, while highlighting my relationship to her and other Africana women’s experiences in Pan-African Liberation struggles. Phyllis’s story led me to my initial experience with the archive, which expanded my research on Africana women’s roles in Pan-African Liberation struggles. Her work encourages my current research on Margaret Walker (7 July 1915–30 November 1998), African American writer, political activist, mother, and educator who created the Conference of African Affairs in 1971 at Jackson State University that advocated against various forms of colonialism. There is also Queen Mother Moore (27 July 1898–2 May 1997), Pan African Leader, founder of the Reparation Movement, political theorist, mother, and educator. Emergent themes like anti-apartheid advocacy, education, and literary activism connect these transnational women. They contribute to a black feminist praxis and leadership within African Liberation Movements despite the normalcy of heteropatriarchy.

The Gallery of Possibilities

Intersectionality and Black feminist thought invite cartographic thinking. Black feminist thinkers evoke cartographic metaphors and imaginaries like intersectionality and the matrix of domination to better illuminate and challenge systems of power and oppression. Such cartographic frameworks contribute toward an evolving feminist mapping toolkit and a growing expanse of feminist interventions in mapping. Yet, there remains a need to engage with the commitments of Black feminist thought in everyday mapping practices. I introduce the gallery of possibilities as a tangible methodological mapping intervention that materializes Black feminist thought and cartographic metaphors by retooling existing cartographic techniques, specifically small multiples, grounding and contextualizing them in questions within Black feminist thought. By engaging with intersecting systems of power and their operation, and the multiplicity of ways power emerges, the gallery of possibilities destabilizes the stasis encoded in traditional mapping solutions. I outline five core elements of the gallery of possibilities and illustrate the method with a case study—a workshop series on feminist map icons. In sum, the gallery of possibilities, along with Black feminist thought, expands the range and availability of feminist mapping methods and tools. Together, the gallery of possibilities and Black feminist thought transform everyday contemporary mapping practice.

The Ethnography of Gender

In her 1998 article “The Lady Vanishes,” Elizabeth Clark issued a challenge to the foundationalisms of feminist historiography of Late Antiquity through developments in poststructuralist theory. This article proposes its own reorientation to historical work on gender, but it does so now in light of recent developments in Black feminist, transgender, and postcolonial feminist studies, arguing gender should be understood as always within colonialism and racialization. It describes the way gender appears in the linked projects of the medicalized body and ethnographic discourses, both in antiquity and modernity, and asks about the political stakes and ambivalent histories attending gender as an analytically separable facet of experience. It also offers a brief reframing of the Proto-gospel of James and select scholarship on late ancient Christianity to offer a constructive redirection for the field of Late Antiquity.

Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

What Black Mothers with Preterm Infants Want for Their Mental Health Care: A Qualitative Study.

"I think that some culturally sensitive mental health information could have been provided": What Black mothers with preterm infants want for their mental health care: A qualitative study. In the United States, preterm birth (PTB) rates in Black women are 50% higher than in non-Hispanic White and Hispanic mothers. Existing discriminatory sociohistorical and contemporary health care practices have been linked to the alarmingly higher rates of PTB among Black families. While it is well-known that PTB is associated with increased mental health (MH) problems, Black women experience elevated MH burdens due to inequities along the care continuum in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Consequently, culturally responsive MH care holds promises to achieve maternal MH equity. This study aimed to explore the available MH services and resources in the NICU for Black mothers with preterm infants. We also sought to discover potential recommendations and strategies for MH programs through a cultural lens. Semistructured interviews were conducted with Black mothers with preterm infants using a Grounded Theory approach embedded in the Black feminist theory. Eleven mothers who gave birth to a preterm infant between 2008 and 2021 participated in this study. Eight women reported not receiving MH services or resources in the NICU. Interestingly, of the three mothers who received MH referrals/services, two did so one-year postbirth and did not utilize the services. Three main themes emerged: stress and the NICU experience, coping mechanisms, and culturally appropriate MH care with diverse providers are needed. Overall, our finds suggest that MH care is not prioritized in the NICU. Black mothers with preterm infants encounter numerous negative and stressful experiences that exacerbate their MH during and beyond the NICU. However, MH services in the NICU and follow-up services are scarce. Mothers in this study endorsed creating culturally appropriate MH programs that addresses their unique intersections.

An Autoethnographic Reflection from Two Black Women Ph.D.’s and Their White Woman Advisor on the Use and Impact of Sista Circle Methodology in the Dissertation Process

Black Women doctoral students experience the journey as “outsiders within” (Collins, 1986), navigating how to excel and thrive while being on the margins (hooks, 1991). The authors of this manuscript reflect upon the impact of adopting a culturally relevant methodology and method, integrating various forms of Black Women’s art, and challenging tenets of traditional western research. An auto-ethnographic exercise illuminated the critical need for Nathan and Love to insert their Black Womanhood into their dissertation research process using Sista Circle Methodology, an active decision to decolonize research. Carlson provided a critical link to ensuring Nathan and Love graduated and provides her reflective learning about the methodology, methods, and advising Black Women using a Black Feminist lens.

On Foremothers, Muses, and Black Feminist Theorizing

On Foremothers, Muses, and Black Feminist Theorizing

The Colors of Masculinity: Experiences of Power and Intersectionality in Nuestra América

This article proposes that masculinity in Colombia can be better understood by examining the extent to which masculine norms, positions, and identities are relative and shaped by the interactions between class, color, race, and region. To do this, I outline theoretical positions that have informed my research on the gender experiences of men in Colombia. Ideas put forward by Black Feminism, and concepts such as Nuestra América (Our America), Amefricanidade, and intersectionality have allowed me to understand the different “colors” of Colombian masculinities, in a context where the overlap of racial ideologies with gender domination plays a central role.

Black Feminists in the Third Sector: Here Is Why We Choose to use the term Solidarity Economy

Many countries in the Global North use the term “social economy”—also known as the third sector—to describe economies run by citizens rather than by state or business actors. Over the years, many Black feminist scholars that we have worked with also share the view that the concept of the “social economy” is limited to a European understanding. It fails to acknowledge those actors in the third sector who are excluded from interacting with the government or private sector. There is an assumption that the social economy is “socially inclined” and that it is a sector able to “interact” with the state and capitalist firms. What happens when certain groups of people cannot interact with the state or private sectors due to systemic exclusion? We argue that to transform literature on the social economy, we must use the term solidarity economy. Rejecting the sanitized language of the social economy, we use critical discourse and case study analyses to show the worldwide use of the term solidarity. Our work draws on theories of community economy intentional community to argue that the solidarity economy is a site of contestation and a way to push for social change.

Listening to the Margins: Reflecting on Lessons Learned From a National Conference Focused on Establishing a Qualitative Research Platform for Childhood Disability and Race

The late Black feminist scholar, bell hooks, suggested that the margin can be a place of radical possibility, where marginalized people nourish their capacity for collective resistance. On the margin, it is possible to generate a counter-language. In this paper, we chronicle, describe and reflect upon how bell hooks' ideas inspired the creation of a national 2-day conference titled, ‘Listening to the Margins’. This conference was focused on understanding the intersectional experiences of childhood disability and race with a view to better supporting racialized disabled children, youth, and their families. This conference was needed because intersectional experiences of childhood disability and race have been silenced in childhood disability studies, critical race studies, and various other resistance-oriented systems of thought. Racialized children with disabilities and their families are often unsupported as they navigate Euro-centric healthcare systems. Reflecting on lessons learned from our conference, we suggest several strategies for advancing meaningful research programs with racialized disabled children. Strategies include centering the art of listening, amplifying the margin, engaging the arts to promote empathy, embracing psychosocial support in work on ableism and racism, developing clinical tools and practices that are grounded in lived patient experiences, and advancing decolonizing research that recognizes the role research has historically played in perpetuating colonial violence. In totality, this article unpacks how sitting on the margins, as bell hooks suggested, has allowed us to occupy a place of discomfort and creativity necessary to disrupt dominant discourses. In so doing, we have made space for the hidden narratives of racialized disabled children and their families.

Diva’s Culturally Sustaining Black Feminism: Tales from an Afro-Brazilian Teacher-Activist-Mother

In this article, the epistemology and pedagogy of an Afro-Brazilian woman named Diva are discussed as a culturally sustaining praxis in the context of the transnational and feminist #BlackLivesMatter movement. Diva works to dismantle white supremacy in her roles as a preschool teacher, doll maker, children’s book author, and mother. Findings come from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2018 and 2020 that involved collecting narratives and videos, examining artifacts, and developing a continued relationship and solidarity. This article demonstrates a form of Black Brazilian culturally sustaining pedagogy and Black feminism, which can help the field of comparative and international education (CIE) move away from the white gaze toward racial equity, as exemplified by Diva’s praxis.

Post-Sexual Assault Decision Making: Centering Black Women’s Experiences

Existing research has identified various reasons most sexual assault victims do not seek help. There remains a need, however, to highlight Black women’s experiences to better understand and adequately meet their needs when they seek help. This project extends existing bodies of knowledge by centering Black women, situating their experiences within a Black feminist framework, and evaluating their experiences as they seek help to understand factors that shape their reporting decisions. Findings suggest that as Black women seek medical help, they consider culture-specific and real rape factors during the police reporting decision. Key findings, implications, and policy recommendations are discussed.

Restoration otherwise: Towards alternative coastal ecologies

This article considers how to rethink ecological restoration as a process tethered to ongoing formulations of racial and environmental justice. It is situated in the context of coastal Louisiana's wetland loss crisis and the state's unprecedented investment in large-scale wetland restoration projects as a technoscientific fix that comes at the expense of several small, Black and Indigenous bayou communities. Critical of approaching restoration as a practice predicated on loss and return, this article builds upon scholarship in Black and Indigenous ecologies and ethnographic fieldwork among Black coastal communities in southeast Louisiana to reimagine restoration as an intergenerational, socioecological set of practices grounded in cultivating cultural continuity and community care across time and space. Working with the Black feminist geographic concepts of the plot and the shoal, the article develops the notion alternative restorations—or restoration otherwise—around three reformulations of restoration: As a practice of cultural continuity, as a mode of cultivating self-reliance, and as a scientific practice of integrity and humility. It concludes by reflecting the ways Black ecological practices and values can shift the course of restoration science toward sustaining Black life in the era of climate change.