1:30-2:30P     MTWR     BH244

Above section open to undergraduates only

This course examines the political activism of black women in the
United States from Emancipation to the present, paying particular
attention to the development of black feminist thought.  Through
primary sources, life stories, and essays, we will explore some of the
central concerns that have profoundly shaped black women's activism,
including interracial relations, constructions of black women's
sexuality, women's labor, state sanctioned racial terror, and the
boundaries of U.S. citizenship.  These concerns have produced much
discussion around the interconnectedness of race, gender, sexuality,
nation and class.  Throughout U.S. history black women have been key
participants in these discussions.  This course will study the range
of politics and theoretical analysis black women activists employed to
address interrelated systems of oppression.  We will also discuss the
ways that categories of difference proved both sources of solidarity
and division within black women activists communities as well as
African American and women's communities more broadly.  In the end
this course strives to weave black women's voices, in all of their
variety, into the historical narrative of U.S. politics and feminist
activism.

Course Requirements and Grading

This course will operate as a general survey with an emphasis on
reading and class discussion.  Student's grades will be based on class
participation (25%), 5 one-page reaction papers or thinking pieces
which comment on weekly readings (25%), and 5-page essay (25%), and a
final examination (25%).  Participation grades will be based on
regular attendance and active participation in class discussion.

Readings:
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American
Feminist Thought (1995)
Gerald Horne, Race Woman: The Lives of Shirley Graham DuBois (2000)
Linda O. McMurry, To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B.
Wells (1999)
Paula Giddings, When and Where I Enter, The Impact of Black Women on
Race and Sex in America (1985)

Also a small collection of articles and exerted readings