Full Description
African American women and men share their stories of how feminism has influenced their daily lives.
How might ordinary people apply feminist principles to everyday situations? How do feminist ideas affect the daily behaviors and decisions of those who seek to live out the basic idea that women are as fully human as men? This collection of essays uses concrete examples to illuminate the ways in which African Americans practice feminism on a day-to-day basis. Demonstrating real-life situations of feminism in action, each essay tackles an issue-such as personal finances, parenting, sexual harassment, reproductive freedom, incest, depression and addiction, or romantic relationships-and articulates a feminist approach to engaging with the problem or concern. Contributors include African American scholars, artists, activists, and business professionals who offer personal accunts of how they encountered feminist ideas and are using them now as a guide to living. The essays included reveal how feminist principles affect people's perceptions of their ability to change themselves and society, because the personal is not always self-evidently political.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: African American Feminist Practices
Aaronette M. White
Part I: Family Values
1. Mother Work: A Stay-at-Home Mom Advocates for Breastfeeding
Angela M. W. Thanyachareon
2. Bringing Up Daddy: A Black Feminist Fatherhood
Mark Anthony Neal
3. Tubes Tied, Child-Free by Choice
Aaronette M. White
Part II: Community Building
4. ¡Ola, Hermano! A Black Latino Feminist Organizes Men
Omar Freilla
5. "Sister Outsiders": How the Students and I Came Out
Mary Anne Adams
6. Feminist Compassion: A Gay Man Loving Black Women
Todd C. Shaw
7. Gay, Gray, and a Place to Stay: Living It Up and Out in an RV
Aaronette M. White and Vera C. Martin
Part III: Romantic Partnerships
8. The Second Time Around: Marriage, Black Feminist Style
Pearl Cleage
9. "Every Goodbye Ain't Gone": Why the Feminist I Loved Left Me
William Dotson
10. When the Hand That Slaps Is Female: Fighting Addiction
Dorothy M.
Part IV: Healing Practices
11. Resistance as Recovery: Winning a Sexual Harassment Complaint
Carolyn M. West
12. Learning to Love the Little Black Boy in Me: Breaking Family Silences, Ending Shame
Gary L. Lemons
13. I Took Back My Dignity: Surviving and Thriving after Incest
Carolyn E. Gross
14. Diving Deep and Surfacing: How I Healed from Depression
Vanessa Jackson
Part V: Career Dilemmas
15. Mary, Don't You Weep: A Feminist Nun's Vocation
Sister Sojourner Truth
16. Becoming an Entrepreneur
Deloise (Dee) A. Frisque
17. Light on a Dark Path: Self-Discovery among White Women
Marian Cannon Dornell
18. The Accidental Advocate: Life Coaching as a Feminist Vocation
Anitra L. Nevels
List of Contributors
Index
