Happy New Year and Welcome to Black Women in the Black Freedom Struggle
This course spans the period from the late nineteenth century to the present. The course centers the activism of black women in the US and the multiple ways they challenged inequality and injustice in the arenas of race, class, gender, and, to a letter extent, sexuality. Centering mainly historical scholarship on black activists as an entryway, students will learn about black women activism on a range of issues, stretching various eras and ideological perspectives, including the anti-lynching movement, the civil rights and black power eras, and presently during the Movement for Blacks Lives. To do this, students examine black feminism as it has evolved over the course of time, specifically how black women have formulated and reformulated notions of black feminismas a lens to spotlight black women’s experiences as different from black men’s but also white women’s in the US. Students will write a final paper that will reflect their historical understanding of black women in the BFS showcasing their expertise in historical knowledge, critical reasoning skills, and clear communication.