Jerilynn Johnson
English 696
Professor Sarah Arroyo
7 December 2014
Annotated Bibliography: Making Room for Black Feminist Criticism
1) Bolles, Lynn. “Telling the Story Straight: Black Feminist Intellectual Thought In
Anthropology.” Transforming Anthropology, 21. 1 (2013): 71-77
Lynn Bolles’ does focus on Black feminist thought in the field of Anthropology, but she does not
leave out the importance of a solid black feminist criticism in her article Telling the Story
Straight: Black Feminist Intellectual Thought In Anthropology. Bolles explains the importance of
knowing the background history of the writer’s culture and emphasizes the importance of “doing
one’s homework.” She finds this to be important because it is “what must be done” (58). This
idea can apply to black feminist criticism theory because it is important that critics familiarize
themselves with the black woman’s struggle. This is necessary because the black woman’s
struggle is different than the white woman’s struggle. The same can be said when it comes to
writing. In addition, Bolles goes into the thoughts of black feminist critics, particularly Marilyn
Saunders Mobley who argues that the critical weight of writing and publishing books is a double
burden for the isolated black scholar and also states that black women may encounter difficulty
interrupting this so-called dominant pattern already set forth so that “their scholarship can be
heard/read/used/included/critiqued? (63). This is a valid argument that I will also include in my
seminar paper.
2) Dodson, Angela P. “New Black Feminist Criticism, 1985-2000: Barbara Christian.”
Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 25.3 (2008): 23.
In New Black Feminist Criticism, 1985-2000, Angela P. Dodson introduces the works of Barbara
Christian, and reviews her role in the Black Feminist movement and how her book “New Black
Feminist Criticism” helped create a pathway for Black Feminist criticism. My seminar paper will
focus on Barbara Smith’s argument, but it seems that Dodson’s point of view regarding
Christian’s role in the movement will enhance the paper a bit more. Even though Smith makes a
valid argument that there needs to individuals well versed in the works and histories of black
female writers, it appears that she was not alone when it came to wanting to change this act of
discrimination in the literary world.
Dodson states, “Long before most people black or white, female or male - knew that a body or
work by black female writers existed, Barbara Christian almost single handedly created space to
critique it. By the early 1970s, she knew that the new Black female voices deserved the world’s
attention” (23). Dodson credits only Christian, but it seems as if Christian was one of the
pioneers in this movement and Smith entered the picture towards the mid to late seventies. I will
be exploring Christian and how she helped shape the Black feminist criticism.
3) Griffin, Farah Jasmine. "That the Mothers May Soar and the Daughters May Know
Their Names: A Retrospective of Black Feminist Literary Criticism." Signs, 32.2
(2007): 483-507.
In support of Smith’s argument Jasmine Farah Griffith states in her article That the Mothers May
Soar and the Daughters May Know Their Names: A Retrospective of Black Feminist Literary
Criticism that black feminists have the power to help all individuals no matter their color. She
explains, “There are a number of things worth noting here. From the beginning, black feminists
have been committed to the freedom of all people, especially black people. Black feminists have
always seen their struggle as part of, indeed a necessary component of, the larger black freedom
struggle (490). This could be considered an additional reason that black feminist works should be
included in the feminist movement during that period of time.
4) Hankins, Rebecca. “Uncovering Black Feminist Writers 1963-90: An Evaluation of
Their Coverage in Research Tools.” Reference & User Services Quarterly, 48.3 (2009):
270-286.
Rebecca Hankins examines writings from a group of black feminist writers from the sixties to
the nineties in her article Uncovering Black Feminist Writers 1963-90: An Evaluation of Their
Coverage in Research Tools. These feminist writers are considered to be second wave and prethird wave feminists. Also, it included is a survey of writings of these black feminists which
determined that there was a critical need during that time to develop a type of comprehensive
tool for black feminist writing which would assist in indexing and abstracting. The studies that
were conducted are pertinent to the black feminist movement because it will demonstrate how
research can better connect critics to the genres and writings of black women writers. Hankins
states that these women fall into a particular group. She names the authors saying, “Maya
Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Rosa Guy, Gayl Jones, June Jordan, Sonia Sanchez, Ntozanke Shange,
Joyce Carol Thomas and Margaret Walker Alexander have all blurred the lines between poetry,
essays and fiction writing for years” (274). These women are considered black feminist writers
and their works are considered within the womanist tradition. My goal is to expand on how
important it is to have proper criticism to better understand these works and the perspective of
the authors.
In my paper proposal I mentioned that Barbara Smith described that white feminist movement as
discriminatory against black feminists and felt that the black feminist, however, Hankins has a
different standpoint. Perhaps her standpoint is different because of the shift in time periods.
Maybe the number of black female authors has increased within the decades, offering more of a
glimpse into the black woman’s history. In addition, Hankins expresses that black feminist
writing and the black feminist movement has become a separate entity of its own. She also
mentions that black women authors have been able to successfully distinguish themselves from
white female-dominated feminism, also known as womanism and has been able to bridge
between the black and white worlds (274). Hankins sentiment could represent the change that
Smith was hoping to implement.
5) Hanson, Renee R. “The Journey of Black Feminist Thought. ”Opportunity Journal.
(2006): 46-50.
In her article, Hanson chronicles Black feminists and their efforts. Sojourner Truth, Rosa
Parks, Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz are among the figures that she made profiles on. I
think that this article would be beneficial to my seminar paper because it contains elements that
black feminist critics should have which is a background of black women and their struggles.
She states, “Black women have suffered a history of overcoming the damaging effects of stigmas
that arose from stereotypes in which they were “depicted as” being stupid; having an ‘essential’
animal-like sexuality, a ‘natural’ willingness to serve and an ‘innate’ ability to cook and
demonstrating a seemingly endless ‘strength’ in the face of racism and sexism, cheerfulness in
situations of profound poverty and a willingness to put anyone and everyone always before
ourselves”(48). These women that Hanson has written about are a significant part of black
women’s history.
6) Hopson, Mark C. “Language and Girlhood: Conceptualizing Black feminist
Thought in ‘Happy to be Nappy’.” Women and Language, 32.1 (2009): 31-61.
Mark C. Hopson’s article focuses on the cultural aspects of self-image and black women. He
does provide a background on black feminism and references black feminist bell hooks by
stating, “Black feminist thought resists white supremacist patriarchy and seeks economic,
political and ideological liberation for individuals and groups. I really think that this idea can
help me expand on ideas on my seminar paper because the black feminist movement wants to be
included with the white feminist movement. In turn, black feminist writers want to be respected
and regarded on the same level as the white female writers.
7) Leitch, Vincent B, ed. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York.
Norton. 2010. Print.
Barbara Smith’s Toward a Black Feminist Criticism focuses on the invisibility of black
women writers within the feminist movement. The article was written in 1977, a time where
those who read the works of Black women writers are not equipped to do so and those
attempt are unable to interconnect how sex, politics and race affect the plight of the Black
woman. The first few lines of the essay sound like an open letter to the reader in which the
author states, “I do not know where to begin” (2223). Smith is straightforward and does not
hide her frustration. She describes herself as being “filled with rage” due to the fact that she
has read thousands of books, magazines and articles and only a fraction of those works
mention Black women (2224). She not only finds a beginning, but continues to elaborate on
how there is a lack of black feminist criticism and also provides possible solutions. Smith
examines the need for black feminist criticism and identifies that there is a lack of black
feminist movement. Most importantly, she mentions that black women writers have been
ignored.
Also, it seems that Smith does not want black women to be placed in a separate category, but
to have black female writers incorporated into the feminist movement. Smith is calling
immediate attention to the lack of attention of black women’s writing by stating, “At present
time I feel that the politics of feminism have a direct relationship to the state of Black
women’s literature (2224). Furthermore, she can see clearly the potential in the works of
black women authors and finds it to be beneficial to the feminist movement.
8) Marcano, Donna-Dale. “Particularity and Situated Universality: Problems for a
Black Feminist Philosophy”. The Black Scholar, 43.4 (2013): 139.
Donna-Dale Marcano focuses on critiquing black philosophies and white philosophies.
She also draws into what it was like to be African American in emerging times like the
seventies. She states how there were, “no papers that could become an example of any
nascent consideration of black feminist philosophy despite the analogous development of the
feminist analytic/Anglo-American philosophy at the time” (139). I think that this is a really
important point and I will examine her thoughts on how there were additional problems for a
black feminist theory.
9). McDowell, Deborah. "New Directions for Black Feminist Criticism." Black
American Literature Forum, 14.4 (1980): 153-159.
Deborah McDowell also shares the same sentiment as Barbara Smith in her article New
Directions for Black Feminist Criticism stating, “When Black women writers are neither ignored
altogether nor given honorable mention, they are critically misunderstood and dismissed” (153).
Race becomes interference across many spectrums and the feminist movement is no exception.
Both Smith and McDowell bring to light inequalities black women authors face even in the
feminist movement, a movement which is supposed to advocate for the equal rights of women. If
the works of Black women writers were acknowledged by “real world” {i.e. white or male
consciousness} this would mean their entire existence, cultural background and the struggles and
oppression they have endured would have to be acknowledged as well.
10). Roth, Benita. “Second Wave Black Feminism in the Africana Dispora. Agenda:
Empowering Women for Gender Equality, No. 58, Africana Feminisms Three
(2003): 46-58
In her article Bernita Roth discusses the myths that surround black feminism. I think that it is
important to include this in my seminar paper because a lot of people may consider these myths
to be facts and that could affect how people view black feminist authors and their works. Roth
states that black feminism was developed based on black women’s everyday experiences which
generated feminist thinking and this type of thinking was different from white feminists (47).
Roth makes valid arguments in her article, especially about black feminists were voicing their
oppression as far as having a voice and how women in the black community were not offered
equal access to birth control.
Also, she expresses how black women were not included in white women’s liberation groups.
This is an interesting type of observation and I think it does connect to black women not being
able to be included in the feminist movement as writers as well.