Synopses & Reviews
In the Black community, rape, violence against women, and sexual harassment are as much the legacy of slavery as is racism. In
Gender Talk Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall argue powerfully that the only way to defeat this legacy is to focus on the intersection of race and gender.
Examining why the “race problem” has become so male-centered and how this has opened a deep divide between Black women and men, the authors turn to their own lives, offering intimate accounts of their experiences as daughters, wives, and leaders. They examine pivotal moments in African American history when race and gender issues collided with explosive results. Along the way, they present the testimonies of a large and influential group of Black women and men, including Byllye Avery, Derrick A. Bell, Farai Chideya, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Michael Eric Dyson, Marcia Gillespie, bell hooks, and Faye Wattleton. Fearless and eye-opening, Gender Talk is required reading for anyone concerned with the future of African American women—and men.
Synopsis
"A groundbreaking look at the controversial topic of sexism and gender politics within African American communities."--Ebony In the Black community, rape, violence against women, and sexual harassment are as much the legacy of slavery as is racism. In Gender Talk, Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall argue powerfully that the only way to defeat this legacy is to focus on the intersection of race and gender.
Examining why the "race problem" has become so male-centered and how this has opened a deep divide between Black women and men, the authors turn to their own lives, offering intimate accounts of their experiences as daughters, wives, and leaders. They examine pivotal moments in African American history when race and gender issues collided with explosive results. Along the way, they present the testimonies of a large and influential group of Black women and men, including Byllye Avery, Derrick A. Bell, Farai Chideya, Kimberl Crenshaw, Michael Eric Dyson, Marcia Gillespie, bell hooks, and Faye Wattleton.
Fearless and eye-opening, Gender Talk is required reading for anyone concerned with the future of African American women--and men.
Synopsis
Why has the African American community remained silent about gender even as race has moved to the forefront of our nation's consciousness? In this important new book, two of the nation's leading African American intellectuals offer a resounding and far-reaching answer to a question that has been ignored for far too long. Hard-hitting and brilliant in its analysis of culture and sexual politics,
Gender Talk asserts boldly that gender matters are critical to the Black community in the twenty-first century.
In the Black community, rape, violence against women, and sexual harassment are as much the legacy of slavery as is racism. Johnnetta Betsch Cole and Beverly Guy-Sheftall argue powerfully that the only way to defeat this legacy is to focus on the intersection of race and gender.
Gender Talk examines why the race problem has become so male-centered and how this has opened a deep divide between Black women and men. The
About the Author
Johnnetta Betsch Cole is the President of Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She is President emerita of Spelman College and Professor emerita of anthropology, Womens Studies, and African American Studies at Emory University. A nationally known African American feminist-intellectual, she is the author of several books, including
Conversations: Straight Talk with Americas Sister President.
Beverly Guy-Sheftall is the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Womens Studies and English, and the Director of the Womens Research and Resource Center at Spelman College. She is the editor of Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought and coeditor (With Rudolph Byrd) of Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality among many other publications. She lives in Atlanta.
From the Hardcover edition.
Table of Contents
The personal is political -- Having their say: conversations with sisters and brothers -- Collisions: Black liberation versus women's liberation -- The Black church: what's the word? -- Race secrets and the body politic -- Black, lesbian, and gay: speaking the unspeakable -- No respect: gender politics and hip-hop -- Where do we go from here?