Recommended Reading: February-March: Black Feminism & Womanism

"Pink-and-Black Feminist Symbol" by TMagen is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

In honor of Black History Month 2022, the Highline College Library invites you to learn more about Black Feminism & Womanism. Special thanks to retired librarian Wadiyah Nelson for her help developing this guide and recommending resources.

Black Feminism

According to National Museum of African American History & Culture, "The black feminist tradition grows not out of other movements, but out of the condition of being both black and a woman. It is a long tradition which resists easy definition and is characterized by its multi-dimensional approach to liberation."

Womanism

According to the Howard University Law Library, "The term ‘womanist’ was coined by author and activist, Alice Walker, within her 1982 publication In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose.  In addition to celebrating all women, womanists place special focus on issues specific to black women, men, and families."

"Womanism is to feminism as purple is to lavender." - Alice Walker

What Is: Womanism

Brief introduction to womanism theory and history from activist and American YouTuber Kat Blaque

Vanguard: The Forgotten Story of Black Women's Epic Struggle for Political Power | Fast Forward

This documentary from PBS and American Experience "offers a sweeping history of African American women’s political lives in America, recounting how they fought for, won, and used the right to the ballot—fighting against both racism and sexism."

The Urgency of Intersectionality - Kimberlé Crenshaw

TED Talk video: “Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberlé Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon; as she says, if you're standing in the path of multiple forms of exclusion, you're likely to get hit by both. In this moving talk, she calls on us to bear witness to this reality and speak up for victims of prejudice.”

Speaking Freely: bell hooks 

2002 interview with scholar and activist bell hooks

Why should you read sci-fi superstar Octavia E. Butler?

Ayana Jamieson and Moya Bailey dive into the works of the visionary storyteller who upended science fiction. [Directed by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat, narrated by Christina Greer, music by WORK PLAY WORK and Cem Misirlioglu].