Revisiting "What's in a name?": Exploring the contours of Africana womanist thought

Frontiers

Volumn 27, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 67-89

  Alexander Floyd, Nikol G ^a,b   Simien, Evelyn M ^c,d  

^a VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b Association for the Study of Black Women in Politics

^c University of Connecticut ^*

^d UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33749652086     PISSN: 01609009     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/fro.2006.0011     Document Type: Review

References (121)

1. As Wahneema Lubiano explains, "Black nationalism in its broadest sense is a sign, an analytic, describing a range of historically manifested ideas about black American possibilities that include any or all of the following: racial solidarity, cultural specificity, religious, economic, and political separatism. . . . It is particularized as a constantly reinvented and reinventing discourse that generally opposes the Eurocentrism of the U.S. state, but neither historically nor contemporaneously depends upon a consistent or complete opposition to Eurocentrism. . . . In fact, one consistent black feminist critique of black nationalist ideology is that it insufficiently breaks with patriarchal modes of economic, political, cultural (especially familial), and social circulations of power that mimic Euro-American modes and circulations." Wahneema Lubiano, "Standing in for the State: Black Nationalism and 'Writing' the Black Subject," in Is It Nation Time?: Contemporary Essays on Black Power and Black Nationalism, ed. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 157.
2. For a discussion of Hudson-Weems's approach to these issues, see Clenora Hudson-Weems, "Africana Womanism: An Historical, Global Perspective for Women of African Descent," in Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African American Literary Tradition, ed. Patricia Liggins Hill (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998), 1812-1815.
3. For a discussion of the concept of "intersectionality" regarding race, class, and gender, see Kimberle Crenshaw, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics," in Feminism and Politics, ed. Anne Phillips (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 314-343.
4. For a contrasting view of race, class, and gender as "mutually constitutive" categories, see Anne McClintock, Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest (New York: Routledge, 1995);
5. Leela Fernandes, Producing Workers: The Politics of Gender, Class, and Culture in the Calcutta Jute Mills (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997);
6. Rose M. Harris, "Signifying Race and Gender: Discursive Strategies in Feminist Theory and Politics" (PhD diss., Rutgers, 1999);
7. and Nikol G. Alexander-Floyd, "Interdisciplinarity, Black Politics, and the Million Man March: A Case Study," in An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies, ed. Michael Herndon (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2004) 90-110.
8. Patricia Hill Collins, "What's In a Name?: Womanism, Black Feminism, and Beyond," Black Scholar 26, no. 1 (1996): 9-17.
9. Patricia Hill Collins, Black Scholar Ibid., 15.
10. Master narratives or "'stories' . . . are discrete narratives focused on describing or explaining a particular phenomenon," and create "'imaginaries'" that create "communities and individuals." Sanford Schram and Philip Neisser, eds., Tales of the State: Narrative in Contemporary U.S. Politics and Public Policy (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997), 4. We describe and discuss the master narrative upon which womanism depends later in this text.
11. Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought (New York: Routledge, 2000);
12. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism: Reclaiming Ourselves (Troy, MI: Bedford Publishers, 1993). While the scope and focus of this article does not permit a full account of these distinct forms so as to render an exact typology, we note that Black feminist thought encompasses revolutionary or radical, critical race feminism, third wave, liberal, and nationalist varieties.
13. Helen A. Neville and Jennifer Hamer, "We Make Freedom: An Exploration of Revolutionary Black Feminism," Journal of Black Studies 31, no. 4 (2001): 437-461;
14. Adrienne Katherine Wing, ed. Critical Race Feminism: A Reader (New York: New York University Press, 1997);
15. and Kimberly Springer, "Third Wave Black Feminism?" Signs 27, no. 4 (2002): 1059-1082. Similarly, womanist thought encompasses "traditional" or secular womanism, liberal Christian womanism, orthodox Christian womanism, and Afrocentric womanist perspectives.
16. For a foundational and secular definition of womanism, see Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mother's Gardens (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1983). While most attribute the term "womanism" to Alice Walker, there is some controversy about the origins of this term.
17. See Rufus Burow, "Enter Womanist Theology and Ethics," The Western Journal of Black Studies 22, no. 1 (1988): 19-29.
18. For examples of liberal, orthodox Christian womanism, and Afrocentric womanism, respectively, see Katie Geneva Cannon, Katie's Canon: Womanism and the Soul of the Black Community (Lexington, NY: Continuum Publishing Company, 1995);
19. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, If It Wasn't for the Women: Black Women's Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2001);
20. and Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism.
21. Although Hudson-Weems sees her theory as generally applicable to people of African descent everywhere, her work is decidedly nationalist and most likely finds its audience in nationalist circles. The constructs she uses, for instance, like nommo and male-female complementarity, are popular among Afrocentric nationalists, and the theorists she uses for support and which she engages, like Maulana Karenga, Molefi Asante, and Julia Hare, are also nationalists. The venues in which she publishes and circulates professionally are nationalist as well. The audience for her work, as a practical matter, then is most likely nationalists.
22. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, iv.
23. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 55.
24. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, 55. Ibid.
25. Barbara Christian, as quoted in Africana Womanism, Ibid., 55.
26. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 2.
27. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 57.
28. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 57-58.
29. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 55.
30. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 58.
31. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, 58. Ibid.
32. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 59-61.
33. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 69.
34. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 63-65.
35. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, 63-65. Ibid.
36. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 61.
37. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, 61. Ibid.
38. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 65.
39. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, 65. Ibid.
40. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, 65. Ibid.
41. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 66.
42. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 66-67.
43. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 67.
44. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, 67. Ibid.
45. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 68.
46. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, 68. Ibid.
47. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 70.
48. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 71-72.
49. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 72.
50. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 73.
51. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 72-73.
52. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 69.
53. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 70.
54. Barbara Christian, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 21.
55. Molefi Asante, Afrocentricity (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1988).
56. Combahee River Collective, "A Black Feminist Statement," in All the Women Are White, All Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies, ed. Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith (New York: The Feminist Press, 1982), 13-22.
57. Frances Beale, "Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female," in Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, ed. Beverly Guy-Sheftall (New York: The New Press, 1995), 153.
58. Frances Beale, "Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female," in Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, 1995), 153. Ibid.
59. Audre Lorde, "Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference," in Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, ed. Beverly Guy-Sheftall (New York: The New Press, 1995), 286.
60. Bonnie Thornton Dill, "When and Where I Enter. . . : The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America; Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family from Slavery to Present," Signs 11, no. 4 (1986): 799.
61. Deborah King, "Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of Black Feminist Ideology," Signs 14, no. 1 (1988): 42-72;
62. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, "African American Women's History and the Metalanguage of Race," Signs 17, no. 2 (1992): 251-274;
63. bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (Boston: South End Press, 1984);
64. Patricia J. Williams, The Alchemy of Race and Rights (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1991).
65. Gloria Anzaldúa, "La Consciencia de la Mestiza/ Towards a New Consciousness," Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (New York: Aunt Lute Books, 1999), 99-113.
66. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (New York: Routledge, 1990);
67. Joan Scott, "Deconstructing Equality-versus-Difference: Or, the Uses of Poststructuralist Theory for Feminism," Feminist Studies 14, no. 1 (1988): 32-50;
68. Chandra Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses," in Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity (Durham: Duke University Press, 2003), 17-42;
69. Aihwa Ong, "Colonialism and Modernity: Feminist Representations of Women in Non-Western Societies," Inscriptions 3, no. 4 (1988): 79-93;
70. Susan J. Carroll and Debra J. Liebowitz, "Introduction: New Challenges, New Questions, New Direction." In Women and American Politics: New Questions, New Directions, ed. Susan J. Carroll (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 1-29.
71. Benita Roth, Separate Roads to Feminism: Black, Chicana, and White Feminist Movements in America's Second Wave (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
72. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl, eds., Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1997), ix.
73. Rosemarie P. Tong, Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction (Boulder: Westview Press, 1998), 1-2.
74. Rosemarie P. Tong, Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction (1998), 1-2. Ibid.
75. Roth, Separate Roads to Feminism.
76. Duchess Harris, "From the Kennedy Commission to the Combahee River Collective: Black Feminist Organizing, 1960-80," in Sisters in the Struggle: African American Woman in the Civil Rights-Black Power Movement, ed. Bettye Collier-Thomas and V. P. Franklin (New York: New York University Press, 2001), 294.
77. Aaronette M. White, "Talking Feminist, Talking Black: Micromobilization Processes in a Collective Protest Against Rape," Gender and Society 13, no. 1 (1999): 83.
78. Aaronette M. White, Gender and Society Ibid., 80.
79. Aaronette M. White, Gender and Society Ibid., 92.
80. Barbara Smith, Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (New York: Kitchen Table Woman of Color Press, 1983), xxiii.
81. Alison M. Jagger and Paula S. Rothenberg, Feminist Frameworks (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984), 383-84.
82. Angela Davis, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves," in Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, ed. Beverly Guy-Sheftall (New York: The New Press, 1995), 205.
83. Hazel V. Carby, "White Woman Listen!: Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood," in Black British Feminism, ed. Heidi Safia Mirza (New York: Routledge, 1997), 46.
84. Hazel V. Carby, "White Woman Listen!: Black Feminism and the Boundaries of Sisterhood," in Black British Feminism, (1997), 46. Ibid.
85. bell hooks, We Real Cool (New York: Routledge, 2004), 4.
86. Davis, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves."
87. Davis, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves." Ibid., 25-30.
88. Davis, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves." Ibid., 41.
89. Tamara Jones, "Building Effective Black Feminist Organizations." Souls 2, no. 4 (2000): 56.
90. Evelyn M. Simien, "Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Black Feminism Among African Americans," Political Science Quarterly 119, no. 2 (2004): 315-338.
91. The Combahee River Collective, "A Black Feminist Statement," 16.
92. Kimberle Crenshaw, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics," in Feminism and Politics, ed. Anne Phillips (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 334.
93. The Combahee River Collective, "A Black Feminist Statement," 14.
94. "A Black Feminist Statement," Ibid., 16.
95. "A Black Feminist Statement," 16. Ibid.
96. Collins, Black Feminist Thought, 38-43.
97. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, 26.
98. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 27.
99. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, 27. Ibid.
100. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 26.
101. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanism, Ibid., 28.
102. Clenora Hudson-Weems, "Africana Womanism: The Flip Side of a Coin," The Western Journal of Black Studies 25, no. 3 (2001): 137.
103. Barbara Ransby, "Afrocentrism, Cultural Nationalism, and the Problem with Essentialist Definitions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality," in Dispatches from the Ebony Tower: Intellectuals Confront the African American Experience, ed. Manning Marable (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), 217.
104. Barbara Ransby, Dispatches from the Ebony Tower: Intellectuals Confront the African American Experience, Ibid., 218.
105. Collins, Black Feminist Thought, 35.
106. E. Frances White, Dark Continent of Our Bodies: Black Feminism and the Politics of Respectability (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001), 148.
107. E. Frances White, Dark Continent of Our Bodies: Black Feminism and the Politics of Respectability Ibid., 149.
108. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2004).
109. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory Ibid., 5.
110. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory 5. Ibid.
111. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory 5. Ibid.
112. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory 5. Ibid.
113. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory 5. Ibid.
114. Clenora Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory 5. Ibid.
115. See Nell Painter, Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol (New York: W.W. Norton, 1996), 164-178. Contrary to what is represented in Gage's speech, for instance, Truth did not have thirteen children, did not speak with a Southern dialect, and never uttered "Ain't I a woman?" the question which is famously attributed to her. Gage penned her recounting of the speech twelve years after the event, likely from memory, and in response to an essay published by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This, of course, casts further doubt on the historical accuracy of the speech.
116. Hudson-Weems, "Africana Womanism: An Historical, Global Perspective for Women of African Descent," 1814.
117. Hudson-Weems, Africana Womanist Literary Theory, 93.
118. Johnetta B. Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities (New York: Ballantine Books, 2003), 162.
119. Johnetta B. Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities Ibid., 163.
120. Johnetta B. Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Gender Talk: The Struggle for Women's Equality in African American Communities 163. Ibid.
121. Oyeronke Oyewumi, "De-confounding Gender: Feminist Theorizing and Western Culture, a Comment on Hawkesworth's 'Confounding Gender,'" Signs 23, no. 4 (1998): 1049-1062.