Femme Noire !!
Volume 1. Issue 1.
Black Feminist Thought.
Introduction
Hello, readers! Welcome to the first edition and issue of our zine, Femme Noire. Femme Noire is a product of Womanism & Black Feminist Thought, a crosslisted course in the Black Studies, Queer Studies, and Women and Gender Studies department, taught by Dr. Tabitha Chester. In order to expand the reach of the class, Femme Noire will be produced, created, and circulated by students in our class throughout the Fall semester. Students will write articles and include their experiences within. The aim of this course is in part to expose students to Black feminist issues and voices. One way we are engaging with the texts we study is by producing a zine. “A zine is an abbreviation of fanzine, or magazine, [and is] most commonly a small circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images usually reproduced via photocopier. Zines have a history of being used by [feminists] to highlight important issues” (Chester 3). The theme of this issue is self-exploration. We each wrote about a topic within or relating to Black Feminist Thought that matters to us. For some, this is an aspect of identity and experience. For others, it is a call to action. Each author brings a unique experience and understanding to the material, and we want to share that with our readers. !
Annie Dayton ‘19: I don’t really know that much about feminism, especially Black feminism. I hope to learn more about the movement that has, and continues to empower women. This class has changed my perspective on what it means to be a feminist and young woman in society today. Sarah O’Donnell ‘16: I am a writer and a feminist. There is a distinct lack of diversity in literature that needs to be remedied. I took this class to learn about the voices of black women so I can write three-dimensional characters of color in an effective and relatable way. Haley Jones ‘17: Part of what draws me to this class is to learn more about my own personal identity as a young Black woman. There are multiple facets of my identity beyond my race and gender, however, both are factors in how I understand and perceive the world around me. My hope for participating in this class is to gain awareness and fluency around the scholarly work of Black women. !!
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Cheyanne Cierpial ‘16: I do not want to be a white feminist; I want to be an intersectional and inclusive feminist. This course offers me a way to continue educating myself on the different lives, experiences, and empowerment of women. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know enough about Black Feminism. This is a step to change that.
Thoughts(on(activism.( By:(Annie(Dayton( (
Living in the District of Columbia, it is impossible to walk down the street without being approached by an activist or lobbyist. Usually a sympathetic smile and a quickening of pace is enough to get by unaccosted. That is not to say that DC residents have an aversion to activism but it can be very easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of groups asking for support. While we still care and sympathize with the struggles of others, we tend to let some causes fall by the wayside. Unlike the typical protest, march, or petition with a clear and defined goal, Black Feminism is a movement to change the cultural paradigm. Sure, one can sign a petition or donate money to the cause, but the best way to help and progress this particular movement is by changes in behavior. It is not a one time action, like showing up on a particular day, it is how you live your life and treat people.
Of course spreading awareness and speaking out against bigotry is essential as in any other rights movement. Often people assume that feminists are men-hating people. Feminism isn’t fighting against men, but against a male dominated culture and how it treats women. As a person coming from a place where activist, lobbyist, and neighbor are synonymous, the Black Feminist movement separates itself from the rest. Black Feminism is a movement with long-term goals that not only focuses on how women of color are treated right now, but also on how culture promotes the treatment of Black women. Black Feminism hopes for systematic change and not changing the minds of individual people. For me, that is a cause worth learning more about. (
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Misty(Copeland:(A(Profile(( By:(Annie(Dayton( Most of us don’t become award winning athletes at age fifteen. Especially after only two years of practice. But that is exactly what Misty Copeland was able to achieve. Despite her rough beginning, Misty was able to rise to national fame and become one of the youngest soloists in the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). She is the first female African American principal dancer in the history of the ABT. At only twenty years old (her birthday was September 10, by the way), she has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people and has starred in multiple performances of The Nutcracker, The Chocolate Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and perhaps most famously Firebird.
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Misty is a perfect example of a young woman who took control of her own life and did what she wanted to do. Society supplies up with this preconceived notion that becoming an adult gives you permission to be that writer, or architect, or photographer that you have always wanted to be. Medical and law school notwithstanding, there is no reason that a career has to start post college or graduate school. Maybe it won’t start at thirteen like Misty, but as cliché as it sounds, there is no time like the present. Misty Copeland is an extraordinary young woman who embodies the things that we try to teach kids about following their passions. She has found her niche and puts her heart and soul into it.
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A ! Reflection on Self-Care Haley!Jones! ! Last May, at the end of my sophomore year, I wrote my first personal and pseudoanonymous blog post on my Tumblr page. My blog post functioned at the time as both a cathartic flow of consciousness and note to my future self. To give you a better idea, here is an excerpt of what I wrote:
I want to feel like I can be my most authentic self all the time, with everyone. I need to create that space for myself first. For that reason, and others, as I transition into the second half of my college experience, I want it to be a time where I make time to nurture every facet of my being. I have intentionally decided to not be involved in the same capacity that I have been during my first two years in college. Don’t get me wrong, my experiences with student government, university governing councils, etc. have been some of the best yet; they have allowed me to connect with individuals on our campus, student and staff alike, that I might not otherwise have the opportunity to meet. I treasure that experience deeply. However, I think in the first semester of my junior year, I not only want, but need to invest in my personal well-being. I crave the day where I am not constantly checking my phone to look at Google Calendar to see where I need to be next. !
Without quite having the language for it, at that moment I realized that I needed to make time for self-care. In my first two years at Denison, I didn’t have a full conception of what self-care looked or felt like, aside from pressing pause when I reached a point of sheer exhaustion. Campus culture at Denison emphasizes active engagement in every arena, but rarely do we discuss the ways that we nurture ourselves in our downtime. In some ways, it’s as if having downtime is a bad thing or something that we don’t all deserve. I often read articles about self-care, but find myself struggling to prioritize it on a daily basis. In my journey towards making self-care a priority, this class is both healing and affirming, because I see myself reflected in both my professor and the texts that we study. For example, our class is currently reading When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost by Joan Morgan, and her chapter on the “STRONG BLACK WOMAN” captured me. Morgan describes from both a personal and historical standpoint the ways in which Black women have both been given and adopted this title over time, and the effects it plays on our overall well being. Morgan’s account allows me to explore and unpack the political nature of my Black womanhood in a way that I have never fully understood before. In addition, on our first day of class, I was surprised to learn that we are permitted one self-care day during the semester. Our syllabus notes a quote from Audre Lorde, which says, “caring for myself is not-self indulgence, it is self-preservation, and this is an act of political warfare” (Chester 3). Both this quote and Morgan’s text resonate, as they affirm the necessity of prioritizing my whole self before my desire to do or be everything for others. In the coming weeks of this semester, I am challenging myself to do things differently. I want to experience what it’s like to nurture my physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. I want to practice being vulnerable and honest about how I’m really doing. I want to have the patience to experience being in each present moment.
Challenging Racism & White Feminism By: Cheyanne Cierpial In her book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down, Jean Morgan is honest and raw and complicated and real. There were paragraphs and phrases and lines that caused me to scribble “YES” and “damn” and “wow” and “amen” in the margins. One spot in particular made me stop reading and start reflecting. It reads: “This book, in part, was an effort to combat my own complacency. I wrote it because I honestly believe that the only way sistas can begin to experience empowerment on all levels…is to understand who we are. We have to be willing to take an honest look at ourselves—and then tell the truth about it” (Morgan 23). Well, my relationship to Black Feminist Thought includes some pretty ugly truths--truths that I am ashamed up and truths that I hide, but truths all the same. Racism exists. And in my town, this is never denied. People, my peers, my family members openly speak about how racist they are, as if it is nothing to be ashamed about. I would list details and stories, all of which are almost unbelievable, about the racism I’ve witnessed growing up. But this isn’t about that. This is about the weight I carry and my responsibility to educate myself and those around me, my small part in putting a dent in institutionalized racism.
So what is my responsibility to Black Feminist Thought? !
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It is to read. It is to read scholarly articles and journals about Black Feminism, but it is to read novels by women of color. Poetry by women of color. Stories and essays and explanations. It is to listen. To not always speak and to know when it is not my place to speak. It is to listen, actively and compassionately. It is to listen with the intent of understanding, not defending. It is to think. About problems. Towards solutions. About my own experiences in the world and about others’ experiences. About questions and “why’s” and implications and consequences. It is to check my privilege. It is to remember my position in society. It is to challenge and reject the environment I was raised in that perpetuated racism, homophobia, and sexism. It is to be intersectional. It is to continually strive to make my feminism more inclusive to all women. To recognize the ways in which oppression is so often intertwined with other oppression and systems of power and privilege. It is to be uncomfortable. It is to learn. It is to speak up and to speak out. It is to be an ally. It is to make new friends, have tough discussions, laugh, admit fault, identify contradictions, ask questions, try new things. It is to write & challenge you to find a responsibility to Black Feminist Thought. It is to assure you that it does not matter where you come from, how you were raised, the color of your skin, or your gender. We are all in different places in our journey, but it is our responsibility to learn and help empower and defend and understand the Black women in our communities.
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White Publishers, White Books By!Sarah!O’Donnell!
Take a stroll through any local bookstore or library and pay attention to the books displayed on the shelves. Hundreds of thousands just like those you see are published each year. A majority of them have something in common: they are penned by white authors and are filled with white characters. These white voices are often attached to neurotypical and heterosexual bodies. The divide between authors and their intended audiences is stark. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison, has been steadily gathering data on the number of children’s books published in the United States being written by/or for African American children since 1985. In 2014, out of the 3,500 books received by the CCBC, 69 of them were by Black authors or illustrators. African/African American content was found in only 179 books. From those, only a handful of books were written/illustrated by Black authors that had nothing to do with their race or cultural background. Among those books written by Black authors or with Black characters, finding fiction that does not deal primarily in the discussion of race is difficult. This isn’t to say that literature (fiction, poetry, and non-fiction) should not focus on race relations and marginalizations. Instead, as Zora Neal Hurston put it, “it is urgent to realize that minorities do think, and think about something other than the race problem.” An abundance of different forms of fiction is necessary for readers of color. !
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Above all else, publishing is a business. A business that can only exist if it is making a profit off of a product. Works that are written by Black people, especially Black women, deal with ideas important to Black lives is considered to be a niche genre and therefore unmarketable to white audiences. This opinion exists not only in publishing, but in other forms of media, most commonly TV shows and movies. The ubiquitous nature of this misconception represents a fundamental ignorance of the importance of representation and the sheer buying power of Black and multicultural America. According to a recent study released by Nielson, “the multicultural marketplace has gone from niche opportunity to mainstream imperative.” Multicultural consumers are the fastest growing section of the population at 120 million currently and increasing by 2.3 million per year. Census projections on the upcoming years predict that by 2044, multicultural consumers will become a majority. In 2014, U.S. multicultural buying power topped 3.4 trillion dollars. African American consumers alone will achieve $1.4 trillion in buying power by 2019. The overwhelming whiteness of authors is aided in part by the dual overwhelming whiteness of those who work in publishing. In a Publisher's Weekly survey sent out to the publishing sector in 2014, of the 630 respondents who revealed their race, 89% identified as white/caucasian, 3% identifying as asian, and 3% hispanic. In response to this trend, various all Black publishers have popped up to balance the overwhelming amount of white voices in fiction and publishing.
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Looking for books written by women of color?! Below is a list of a range of Black women authors. !
Some are well known, others are not. By: Sarah O’Donnell
Octavia E. Butler Butler was an acclaimed and evocative science fiction and fantasy author who published a dozen novels before her death in 2006. Many of her works focus on Black women protagonists. She often explored subjects like race, sex, and power. She said of her chosen genre: “I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining.” !
Jewell Gomez Jewell Gomez is a writer and activist with experience in theatre production/writing, magazine publication, and in lesbian feminist activism. One of her most well-known novels is “The Gilda Stories” (1991). The story takes a lesbian feminist perspective on an escaped slave turned vampire and her 200 year coming of age. !
Roxanne Gay In her book Bad Feminist, a collection of short impactful essays, Roxane Gay has the audacity to enjoy the things that feminists are told they should not. She has also written erotica, essays about literature, and stories concerning Haitian diaspora. !
Alaya Dawn J ohnson Alaya Dawn Johnson’s The Summer Prince paints a distant future wiped away by a nuclear apocalypse and filled in with a matriaric society replete with vast technological wonders (and a system that elects a Summer Prince every five years and sacrifices him after a one year term). Johnson has written other novels such as Racing The Dark (magic set on a tropical island) and Moonshine (vampires during the prohibition). !
Sephanie Keuhn Stephanie Keuhn is a YA author who excels in thrilling and psychologically gripping narratives. Her most recent novel Complicit, centers around Jamie Henry, who’s sister Cate has just escaped prison after being sent there for burning down their neighbor’s horse barn. !
Works Cited "6 Black-Owned Book Publishers." MadameNoire RSS. 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 9 Sept. 2015 "ABT: Dancers." ABT: Dancers. Ballet Theatre Foundation, Inc., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. "Alaya Dawn Johnson." Goodreads. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. Chester, Tabitha. "Course Syllabus." Womanism and Black Feminisim Fall 2015. Columbus, 2015. 3. Print. "Children's Books by and about People of Color Published in the United States." The Cooperative Children’s Book Center of Education, University of Wisconsin Madison. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 9 Sept. 2015. Fox, Margalit. "Octavia E. Butler, Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 58." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Feb. 2006. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. Horning, Kathleen, Mary Lindgren, and Megan Schliesman. "A Few Observations on Publishing in 2014." CCBC Choices 2015 (2015). Print. "Jewelle L. Gomez." Goodreads. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. Milliot, Jim. "Publishing's Holding Pattern: 2014 Salary Survey." PublishersWeekly.com. 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. "Misty Copeland." Henry Leutwyler. The 88, May 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. "Misty Copeland." Misty Copeland. Squire Media & Publishing, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. Morgan, Joan. When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-hop Feminist. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Print. "Octavia E. Butler." Goodreads. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. "Octavia E. Butler Quotes." Octavia E. Butler Quotes (Author of Kindred). Web. 8 Sept. 2015. "Through Darkness to Light." Jeanine Michna-Bales. JMBales Photography, 2015. Web. Rosenburg, Saul, and Mónica Gil, eds. The Multicultural Edge: Rising Super Consumers. Nielsen, 2015. Print. "Roxane Gay." Goodreads. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. "Stephanie Kuehn." Goodreads. Web. 8 Sept. 2015. !
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Give it to a friend. Share it with a professor. Leave it on a table. Show your roommate.