Last week in my open letter I promised to send Washington reporter Michelle Cottle a syllabus on black feminism in response to her calling First Lady Michelle Obama a “feminist nightmare.” Here is my suggested reading list:
Brown, Nikki. Private Politics and Public Voices: Black Women’s Activism from World War I to the New Deal.
Collier-Thomas, Bettye, and V. P. Franklin, eds. Sisters in the Struggle: African American Women in the Civil Rights-Black Power Movement.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment.
Cooper, Anna Julia. A Voice From the South.
Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43, no. 6 (July 1991): 1241-1299.
Davis, Angela. Women, Race, & Class.
Giddings, Paula. Ida: A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells.
Giddings, Paula. When And Where I Enter The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America.
Guy-Shefthall, Beverly. Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought.
Harris-Perry, Melissa. Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes and Black Women in America.
hooks, bell. Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism.
hooks, bell. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center.
Hunter, Tera. To ‘Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors After the Civil War.
James, Stanlie M., Frances Smith Foster, and Beverly Guy-Sheftall, eds. Still Brave: The Evolution of Black Women’s Studies.
Jordan, June. Some of Us Did Not Die.
Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches.
Lorde, Audre. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name.
Marby, Marcus. Twice As Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power.
Morgan, Joan. When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks it Down
