Stepping forward : Black women in Africa and the Americas / edited by Catherine Higgs, Barbara A. Moss, and Earline Rae Ferguson.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Higgs, Catherine.

Moss, Barbara A.

Ferguson, Earline Rae, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women, Black--Social conditions--Cross-cultural studies--Congresses.

Women, Black.

Women, Black--Africa--History--Congresses.

Women, Black--Africa--Social conditions--Congresses.

African American women--History--Congresses.

African American women.

African American women--Social conditions--Congresses.

Women, Black--Jamaica--History--Congresses.

Women, Black--Jamaica--Social conditions--Congresses.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 331 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Athens, OH : Ohio University Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A unique and important study, Stepping Forward examines the experiences of nineteenth- and twentieth-century black women in Africa and African diaspora communities from a variety of perspectives in a number of different settings. This wide-ranging collection designed for classroom use explores the broad themes that have shaped black women's goals, options, and responses: religion, education, political activism, migration, and cultural transformation. Essays by leading scholars in the field examine the lives of black women in the United States and the Caribbean Basin; in the white settler societies of Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa; and in the black settler societies of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Among the contributors to this volume are historians, political scientists, and scholars of literature, music, and law. What emerges from their work is an image of black women's agency, self-reliance, and resiliency. Despite cultural differences and geographical variations, black women have provided foundations on which black communities have not only survived, but also thrived. Stepping Forward is a valuable addition to our understanding of women's roles in these diverse communities.

Contents:

Intro

Maps

Tables

Introduction

Part One: Gender, Education, and Segregation

Chapter One British Colonial Policy toward Education and the Roots of Gender Inequality in Sierra Leone, 1896-1961

Chapter Two Agency and Constructions of Professional Identity

Part Two: Image and Substance

Chapter Three The Search for Anna Erskine

Chapter Four Image and Representation

Part Three: Grassroots Activism

Chapter Five Helping Ourselves

Chapter Six African American Clubwomen and the Indianapolis NAACP, 1912-1914

Part Four: Systems of Thought, Modes of Resistance

Chapter Seven Witchcraft,Women, and Taxes in the Transkei, South Africa, 1930-1963

Chapter Eight "Mwen na rien, Msieu"

Part Five: Migration

Chapter Nine No Place to Call Home

Chapter Ten "The Sisters and Mothers Are Called to the City"

Part Six: Religion and Spirituality

Chapter Eleven Mai Chaza and the Politics of Motherhood in Colonial Zimbabwe

Chapter Twelve Standing Their Ground

Part Seven: Civil War and Civil Rights

Chapter Thirteen Gender and Political Struggle in Kenya, 1948-1998

Chapter Fourteen "The lady folk is a doer" Women and the Civil Rights Movement in Claiborne County, Mississippi Emilye Crosby

Part Eight: Women's Voices

Chapter Fifteen Strategies for Survival by Luo Female Artists in the Rural Environment in Kenya

Chapter Sixteen Wild and Holy Women in the Poetry of Brenda Marie Osbey

Part Nine: Decolonizing Black Women

Chapter Seventeen Owning What We Know

Chapter Eighteen Decolonizing Culture

Notes

Contributors

Index.

Notes:

Papers from a conference held at the University of Tennessee from September 15-18, 1999, and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the University of Tennessee.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-8214-4099-3

OCLC:

439705856