Shirley Wilson Logan analyzes the distinctive rhetorical features in the persuasive discourse of nineteenth-century black women, concentrating on the public discourse of club and church women from 1880 until 1900.
Logan develops each chapter in this illustrated study around a feature of public address as best exemplified in the oratory of a particular woman speaker of the era. She analyzes not only speeches but also editorials, essays, and letters.
Logan first focuses on the prophetic oratory of Maria Stewart, the first American-born black woman to speak publicly. Turning to Frances Harper, she considers speeches that argue for common interests between divergent communities. And she demonstrates that central to the antilynching rhetoric of Ida Wells is the concept of "presence, " or the tactic of enhancing certain selected elements of the presentation.
This unique book reveals the vital roles that African American women have played throughout America's development. At the center of this history is the struggle for suffrage, economic equality, and social acceptance. This book guides the reader through the experiences of African American women during slavery, reconstruction, the northern migration, World War II, the Harlem Renaissance, and into present day. Analyzing the historical context and nuances of their difficulties and triumphs, African American Women is the most accessible, thorough, and effective source of study on the family life, status, interpersonal relationships, education, work, rights, and myths of African American women in America.
The middle class black women who people Judith Weisenfeld's history were committed both to social action and to institutional expression of their religious convictions. Their story provides an illuminating perspective on the varied forces working to improve quality of life for African Americans in crucial times.
When undertaking to help young women migrating to and living alone in New York, Weisenfeld's protagonists chose to work within a national evangelical institution. Their organization of a black chapter of the Young Women's Christian Association in 1905 was a clear step toward establishing a suitable environment for young working women; it was also an expression of their philosophy of social uplift. And predictably it was the beginning of an equal rights struggle--to work as equals with white women activists. Growing and adapting as New York's black community evolved over the decades, the black YWCA assumed a central role both in the community's religious life and as a training ground for social action. Weisenfeld's analysis of the setbacks and successes closes with the National YWCA's vote in 1946 to adopt an interracial charter and move toward integration of local chapters, thus opening the door to a different set of challenges for a new generation of black activists.
Weisenfeld's account gives a vibrant picture of African American women as significant actors in the life of the city. And it bears telling witness to the religious, class, gender, and racial negotiations so often involved in American social reform movements.
"African American Women and Poverty "examines why educational investments by African American women, the group in American society that is most susceptible to being poor, have not reduced poverty as expected. The analysis in this study reveals that the ability of human capital investment to alleviate poverty for African American women differs depending on whether one estimates private or social returns. Tables. Charts. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.
The representation of African American women is an important issue in the overall study of how women are portrayed in film, and has received serious attention in recent years. Traditionally, "women of color, " particularly African American women, have been at the margins of studies of womens on-screen depictions--or excluded altogether. This work focuses exclusively on the sexual objectification of African American women in film from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Critics of the negative sexual imagery have long speculated that control by African American filmmakers would change how African American women are depicted. This work examines sixteen films made by males both white and black to see how the imagery might change with the race of the filmmaker. Four dimensions are given special attention: the diversity of the womens roles and relationships with men, the sexual attitudes of the African American female characters, their attitudes towards men, and their nonverbal and verbal sexual behaviors. This work also examines the role culture has played in perpetuating the images, how film influences viewers perception of African American women and their sexuality, and how the imagery polarizes women by functioning as a regulator of their sexual behaviors based on cultural definitions of the feminine.
Forty-five black women writers--known and new--discuss midlife in the first anthology of its kind. "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes "midlife" from a black woman's point of view.
Between Us is a gift package of shared experience from women's lives -- candid, honest and personal -- on a cornucopia of subjects, from shopping confessions to dealing with change, both personal and prevailing in our world today. A special book to have and to give by reporter/novelist Marian Coe.Gift book of poetry and shared wisdom for women to give and to keep.A jewel-box of poetry, images and vignettes illuminating women's lives at every stage. Women's lives at every stage illuminated by the observations in poetry and prose of reporter/novelist Marian Coe
"Black British Feminism: A Reader" reveals the historic development and important academic direction of black British feminism. This unique collection of key texts and writings by Black British women of Pacific, Asian, African, Caribbean and Latina descent living in Britain is essential reading for those interested in cultural and women's studies, sociology, and postcolonial studies. Part 1: Shaping The Debate explores the early direction of Black feminist scholars in Britain, while Part II: Defining Our Space demonstrates the shift in the 1990s of exploring intellectual possibilities while continuing to challenge cultural imperialism in its many forms. Part III: Changing the Future looks ahead to new directions and opportunities for change engendered by a Black feminist perspective.
This revised tenth anniversary edition expands on the arguments of the original edition to include discussions of heterosexism as a system of power, expanded images of black womanhood, U.S. black feminism's connections to black "Diasporic" feminism, and the importance of social class and nationalism.
Gordon's treatment of the schism between Black women and the white feminist movement sparks new debate on the provocative issues Black women face in a sexist and racist society.
Black Women, Feminism, And Black Liberation, methodically examines the historical relationship between women's issues and the Black liberation movement in terms of traditional coalition perspectives, economic inequality and the historic oppression of Black women.
The author shares many of her rich life experiences as a black clergywoman and seminary professor. She preaches and teaches to all women so they can begin to break through the very real "brick ceiling" that threatens to hold them in and keep them from their call to ministry, using the coping mechanisms familiar to the African American experience. Each chapter includes invaluable practical suggestions to help women in ministry faithfully navigate the internal and external challenges at every turn.
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