BLST 240 Black Women Write Social Justice
From demanding change to pushing for revolution, Black women have long been at the forefront in projects for social justice. At the same time, however, their intellectual and political contributions and frameworks have often been ignored or co-opted by others. In this class, we will engage with the myriad ways in which Black women write for social justice, including creative writing, academic essays and talks, films and performances. Through exploring authors who write from various national/international/transnational positions and identities, we will locate African American history and literature within a larger Black diasporic history and literature to understand the global nature of Black women’s writing. Topics will include, but are not limited to, violence against women, access to education, reproductive justice, the linkages between racism and capitalism, self-representation and alternative visions of the world. By taking seriously the contributions of Black women writers, we will also undertake the work of figuring out the definitions behind the words that make up our class title: how do our authors define Black? How do they define what it means to be women? What is the importance of writing? And finally, how do our authors conceptualize and define social justice?