Theorizing Empowerment by Notisha Massaquoi Njoki Nathani Wane

Author:Notisha Massaquoi, Njoki Nathani Wane [Notisha Massaquoi, Njoki Nathani Wane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Discrimination & Race Relations, Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Fiction & Literature, Poetry
ISBN: 9781926708454
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Published: 2012-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

1“African women” and “Black women” are used interchangeably and together in this paper to mean any woman of African descent; for example, women from the Caribbean and Latin America, who are Black and of African descent. Moreover, “African/Black” is being used as a political term suggesting the author’s preferred choice of identity. In addition, “African woman” is being used to represent the struggle against colonialism that has denied the African heritage of so many Black women who are descendents of those taken against their will, repeatedly violated, and sold into slavery. It represents sisters, mothers, and grandmothers who were left behind in the continent and subjected to brutal colonial rule and trauma due to the loss of family members and communities. This denial is internal and external and tries to divide survivors of colonialism between those who remained on the colonial continent of Africa and those who were brought to colonial countries around the world (Timothy, 2007).

2“Canada” is being used in this paper with the notion that its name, governance, and nationhood are colonial constructions created by White settler colonies. The original name of this region is “Turtle Island”, given by the Indigenous Aboriginal and First Nation populations of this region.

3The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is Canada’s lead development agency. It has a mandate to reduce poverty and to contribute to a more secure, equitable, and prosperous world.

4See Flynn’s (1998) article on the impact of the cuts on single Black women in Toronto.

5However, it is important to note that people of African descent have been living in Turtle Island for hundreds of years (see Cooper 2006; Elgersman (1999).

6For further elaborations on Condoleezza Rice’s politics from a Black feminist scholarly analysis, see Carole Boyce Davies’s upcoming article (in press).

7Heterosexism experienced by African/Black lesbian identified women from the ruling powers, the African/Black power movements, the feminist and anti-colonial movements has been a reality. An African/Black feminist, anti-colonial perspective must include an anti-heterosexist/homophobic theory, praxis, and stance to be truly emancipatory and inclusive even within diverse African-identified locations.

8See Carby (1999); Christian (2002); James (1997); John (2003); Green (1997); Gourdine (2002); Martin and West (1999); Davies (2004); Massaquoi (2004); Sudbury (2004); Rodney (1982); Penn (2005); Gilroy (2005); and Timothy (2007) for further elaborations on Diaspora.

9For more elaborations of African/Black feminists living in Canada please see Brand (1978); Massaquoi (2004); Sudbury (2004); Wane (2004); Mullings (2004); and Timothy (2007, 1998).

10Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enacted between 1870s until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the southern and border states of the U.S. that racially segregated African-Americans from equally accessing public schools, public places, and public transportation.

11This initial study led to my doctoral research where I examined African/Black women’s shelter workers’ experiences of intersectional violence, African/Black feminist identities, organizational restructuring, anti-colonial methodology and praxis, and resistance education (see Timothy 2007).

12All names have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the women who participated in my study.

REFERENCES

Amadiume, I. 1997. Africa Reinventing: Matriarchy, Religion and Culture. New York: Zed Books ltd.

Bannerji, H. 2000. “A Question of Silence: Reflections on Violence Against Women in Communities of Colour.

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