This page collects the canons related to women of color feminisms in the 20th century alongside readings representing the 21st century. You have many choices here.  When you click the titles below, you will be weblinked to the text.  Please note that the platform housing the readings is sometimes glitchy--- so you might need to download the reading first, then print it.  Otherwise, just read on the screen.  Your choices are listed below.  Please see the syllabus for your writing assignment.

Articles to Choose from

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  1. Tania Abdulahad AND Gwendolyn Rogers, Barbara Smith, Jameelah Waheed: "Black Lesbian/Feminist Organizing: A Conversation" (1982)
  2. Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected by the African American Policy Forum
  3. Linda Alcoff: "The Unassimilated Theorist" (2006)
  4. Sonia E. Alvarez, Elisabeth Jay Friedman, Ericka Beckman, Maylei Blackwell, Norma Stoltz Chinchilla, Nathalie Lebon, Marysa Navarro, and Marcela Ríos Tobar: "Encountering Latin American and Caribbean Feminisms" (2003)
  5. Margot Badran: "Between Secular and Islamic Feminism/s: Reflections on the Middle East and Beyond" (2005)
  6. Joanne Barker: "Indigenous Feminisms" (2015)
  7. Akeia A. F. Benard: "Colonizing Black Female Bodies Within Patriarchal Capitalism: Feminist and Human Rights Perspectives" (2016)
  8. Robin Boylorn: "Dark-Skinned Love Stories" (2012)
  9. Ruth Nicole Brown: excerpt from Hear Our Truths: The Creative Potential of Black Girlhood (2013)
  10. Rhon S. Manigault-Bryant: "An Open Letter To White Liberal Feminists" (2016)
  11. Devon Carbado: "Straight out of the Closet: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation" (1999)
  12. Norma Cantú: "Doing Work that Matters: The Impact of Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza" (2011) 
  13. Johnetta Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall: "Black, Lesbian, and Gay: Speaking the Unspeakable" (2003)
  14. Patricia Hill Collins: "Gender, Black Feminism, and Black Political Economy" (2000)
  15. Patricia Hill Collins: "Black Feminism, Knowledge & Power" (2012 excerpt from Black Feminist Thought)
  16. Brittney Cooper: "Intersectionality" (2015)
  17. Susan Muaddi Darraj: "It's Not an Oxymoron: The Search for an Arab Feminism" (2002)
  18. Angela Davis and Cassandra Shaylor: "Race, Gender, and the Prison Industrial Complex: California and Beyond" (2001)
  19. C. Alejandra Elenes: "Chicana Feminist Narratives and the Politics of the Self" (2000)
  20. Alma Garcia: "The Development of Chicana Feminist Discourse, 1970-1980" (1989)
  21. Evelyn Nakano Glenn: "Gender, Race, and Citizenship" (2012 excerpt)
  22. Nawar Al-Hassan Golley: "Is Feminism Relevant to Arab Women?" (2004)
  23. Elena R. Gutiérrez and Liza Fuentes: "Population Control by Sterilization: The Cases of Puerto Rican and Mexican-Origin Women in the United States" (2009-2010) 
  24. Tamara Winfrey Harris: "Precious Mettle: The Myth of the Strong Black Woman" (2014)
  25. Tamara Winfrey Harris: Excerpt from The Sistas Are Alright (2015)
  26. bell hooks: "Sisterhood: Political Solidarity between Women" (1986)
  27. Kahente Horn-Miller: "Bring Us Back into the Dance: Women of the Wasase" (2002)
  28. Gloria Hull and Barbara Smith: "The Politics of Black Women's Studies" (1982)
  29. Shani Jamila: "Can I Get a Witness: Testimony from a Hip Hop Feminist" (2002)
  30. Amber Johnson & Robin M. Boylorn: "Digital Media and the Politics of Intersectional Queer Hyper/In/Visibility in Between Women" (2015)
  31. Sahar Khamis: "The Arab "Feminist" Spring?" (2011)
  32. Madhulika S. Khandelwal: "Defining Community and Feminism: Indian Women in New York City" (1997)
  33. Jamilah Lemieux for Colorlines.com: “Seriously, Why Are Some of Us Still Defending R. Kelly?”
  34. Adriana López: "In Praise of Difficult Chicas" (2002)
  35. Elizabeth Martínez: "In Pursuit of Latina Liberation" (1995)
  36. Erica González Martínez: "Dutiful Hijas: Dependency, Power and Guilt" (2002)
  37. Lara Medina: "Transformative Struggle: The Spirituality of Las Hermanas" (2001)
  38. Bhavana Mody: "Lost in the Indophile Translation: A Validation of My Experience" (2002)
  39. Joan Morgan: "strongblackwomen" (1999) (from When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip Hop Feminist)
  40. Scott Morgensen: "Identity (Politics)" (2012)
  41. Uma Narayan: "Contesting Cultures: 'Westernization,' Respect for Cultures, and Third-World
    Feminists" (1997)
  42. Whitney Peoples: " 'Under Construction': Identifying Foundations of Hip-Hop Feminism and Exploring Bridges between Black Second-Wave and Hip-Hop Feminisms" (2008)
  43. Lourdes-Marie Prophete: "Feminist Musings on the No. 3 Train" (2002)
  44. Gwendolyn Pough:" Love Feminism but Where's My Hip Hop: Shaping a Black Feminist Identity"
  45. Barbara Ransby: "Black Feminism at Twenty-One: Reflections on the Evolution of a National Community" (2000)
  46. Mónica Russel Y Rodríguez: "Accounting for MeXicana Feminisms" (2008)
  47. Therese Saliba: "Arab Feminism at the Millennium" (2000)
  48. ​Sirena Riley: "The Black Beauty Myth" (2002)
  49. Dorothy Roberts: "Race, Gender, and Genetic Technologies: A New Reproductive Dystopia" (2009)
  50. Kiini Ibura Salaam: "How Sexual Harassment Slaughtered, Then Saved Me" (2002)
  51. Spectra: "Love and Afrofeminism: Queer Bois and the Gendered Politics of Partner Dancing" (2012) (To link to the archive website, click here)
  52. Nancy Saporta Sternbach, Marysa Navarro-Aranguren, Patricia Chuchryk and Sonia E. Alvarez: "Feminisms in Latin America: From Bogotá to San Bernardo" (1992)
  53. Almas Sayeed: "Chappals and Gym Shorts" (2002)
  54. Beverly Guy-Sheftall: "Black Feminist Studies: The Case of Anna Julia Cooper" (2009)
  55. Barbara Smith: "Racism and Women's Studies" (1982)
  56. Kimberly Springer: "Third-Wave Black Feminism?" (2012 excerpt)
  57. Kaila Adia Story: (Re)Presenting Shug Avery and Afrekete: The Search for a Black, Queer, and Feminist Pleasure Praxis (2015)
  58. Anita Tijerina-Revilla: "Are All Raza Womyn Queer? An Exploration of Sexual Identity in a Chicana/Latina Student Organization" (2009)
  59. Patricia Justine Tumang: "Nasaan ka anak ko? A Queer Filipino-American Feminist's Tale of Abortion and Self-Recovery" (2002)
  60. Begum Verjee: "Counterstorytelling: The Experiences of Women of  Colour in Higher Education" (2013)
  61. Deleso Washington: "'Every Shut Eye, Ain't Sleep': Exploring the Impact of Crack Cocaine Sentencing and the Illusion of Reproductive Rights for Black Women from a Critical Race Feminist Perspective" (2005)
  62. Jennifer Bailey Woodard and Teresa Mastin: "Black Womanhood: 'Essence' and its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women" (2005)​

Videos to Choose from

You can also choose to watch a lecture vs. reading an article.  Your lecture choices are listed below.
Barbara Ransby: A Black Feminist Reading of the Movement for Black Lives
How Structural Racism Works: Tricia Rose
Aimee Meredith Cox:  "'Your Obedience Will Protect You' and Other Myths of Black Girlhood" (2015)
Beth Richie: "Arrested Justice: Black Feminist Reflections on Carceral Feminism and Prison Abolition" (2016) 
Evergeen Art Lecture Series: Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives:
​Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers (2016)
Tricia Rose: Black Feminism, Popular Culture, and Respectability Politics
bell hooks + Beverly Guy-Sheftall: "This Ain't No Pussy Shit"
Denise Ferreira da Silva-- Hacking the Subject: Black Feminism, Refusal, and the Limits of Critique
NOTE: For an overview of waves of feminism, read Judith Lorber (click here)
Please note that the reading list on this webpage will be continually updated. Feel free to make suggestions!

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