Tag: Black Feminist in Public Series

‘Black Women’s Bodies Have Always Been Under Attack’: Marcela Howell on Reproductive Justice and Why We Must Listen to Black Women

Marcela Howell, an advocate and policy strategist, is retiring after 35 years of advocating for women’s rights and reproductive freedoms. The founder and former president of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, Howell spoke with Ms.’ Janell Hobson about the current state of affairs, reproductive justice, and why more of us need to listen to Black women.

“If Black women in their full force come out and vote in elections, conservatives lose; their policies lose. If you want to control Black women, you control their bodies, control their votes, control what they learn in school, control their history.”

Black Feminist in Public: A Conversation Between Farah Jasmine Griffin and Janell Hobson on Black Life, Literature and the Black Feminist Imagination

Black Feminist in Public: Black Life, Literature and the Black Feminist Imagination—a Conversation Between Farah Jasmine Griffin and Janell Hobson

On September 25, Black feminist scholars Farah Jasmine Griffin and Janell Hobson took part in a public conversaton about their respective new books, discussing Black literature and the Black feminist imagination.

“When I talk about ‘Black feminist imagination,’ I am thinking of how Black women have been able to articulate the presence of an absence. How do we give voice to silence?”

What Storm, What Thunder

Black Feminist in Public: Myriam Chancy Gives Voice to the Voiceless Among Survivors of Haiti’s 2010 Earthquake

Award-winning Haitian-American/Canadian writer and scholar Myriam Chancy’s newest novel, “What Storm, What Thunder,” commemorates the devastating January 12, 2010, earthquake that struck Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, killing 250,000. The book has taken on new relevancy with the recent August 14 earthquake on the island.

Chancy discusses her new novel, the fate of her birth island, and why more people need to listen to Haiti’s women.

Monique DeBose's Feminist Anthem “Brown Beauty” Is a Love Letter to Black Women Black Feminist in Public

Monique DeBose’s Feminist Anthem “Brown Beauty” Is a Love Letter to Black and Brown Women

Los Angeles based singer, activist and spiritual coach Monique DeBose has a new song dedicated to all women of color.

“My intention with this song was to put it out at this point in time as just a celebration. I feel like for so long, we have not had the spaces and the public squares to just celebrate and acknowledge ourselves. If we’ve done it, it’s had to be in enclosed circles, and at this point, I’m ready now to just have it be out in public in a way that like has no shame has no trepidation, no insecurity.”

Black Feminist in Public Ahead of Juneteenth, Tiya Miles Explores the Historical Baggage of Slavery

Black Feminist in Public: Tiya Miles Explores the Historical Baggage of Slavery

This week leads into the weekend celebration of Juneteenth, honoring the emancipation in 1865 of those who were enslaved in this country. The Black Feminist in Public series will highlight three scholars of slavery studies and Black women’s histories.

Our third and final focus is Tiya Miles, professor of history at Harvard University and author of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake.

Black Feminist in Public: Jennifer L. Morgan Reckons with Slavery

Black Feminist in Public: Jennifer L. Morgan Reckons with Slavery

This week leads into the weekend celebration of Juneteenth, honoring the emancipation in 1865 of those who were enslaved in this country. The Black Feminist in Public series will highlight three scholars of slavery studies and Black women’s histories.

Next up, Jennifer L. Morgan, author of Reckoning with Slavery: Gender, Kinship, and Capitalism in the Early Black Atlantic.

Black Feminist In Public: Jessica Marie Johnson on Slavery Studies and Black Sexual Histories

Black Feminist In Public: Jessica Marie Johnson on the Importance of Slavery Studies and Knowing Black Sexual Histories

This week leads into the weekend celebration of Juneteenth, honoring the emancipation in 1865 of those who were enslaved in this country. The Black Feminist in Public series will highlight three scholars of slavery studies and Black women’s histories.

First up: Jessica Marie Johnson, associate professor of history at John Hopkins University and author of Wicked Flesh: Black Women, Intimacy, and Freedom in the Atlantic World.

Black Feminist in Public Revisiting Pulitzer Winner Alice Walker; In Conversation with Salamishah Tillet on 'In Search of The Color Purple'

Black Feminist in Public: Revisiting Pulitzer Winner Alice Walker; In Conversation with Salamishah Tillet on ‘In Search of The Color Purple’

Through archival research and interviews, academic and activist Salamishah Tillet studies Alice Walker’s life and how themes of violence emerged in her earlier work.

“It was important for me to recognize Alice’s own journey to Zora as part of my own journey to Alice. That’s one thing. The other part is that you have a generation of Black writers and scholars who self-identify as Black feminists who remember the moment or the time or the text that helped them find the language of Black feminism. This is both a recovery and an origin story.”