Words of fire: an anthology of African-American feminist thought

Introduction: The evolution of feminist consciousness among African American women – Chapter 1 Beginnings: in defense of our race and sex, 1831-1900 – Introduction – Maria Miller Stewart – Religion and the pure principles of morality, the sure foundation on which we must build / Maria Miller Stewart – Lecture delivered at the Franklin Hall / Maria Stewart – Sojourner Truth – Women’s Rights / Sojourner Truth – When woman gets her rights man will be right / Sojourner Truth – Frances Ellen Watkins Harper – Woman’s political future / Frances E. W. Harper – Anna Julia Cooper – The status of women in America / Anna Julia Cooper – Julia A. J. Foote – Women in the Gospel / Julia A. J. Foote – Gertrude Bustill Mossell – The opposite point of view / Gertrude Bustill Mossell – A lofty study / Gertrude Bustill Mossell – Mary Church Terrell – The progress of colored women / Mary Church Terrell – Ida Wells-Barnett – Lynch law in America / Ida Wells-Barnett

Chapter 2 Triumph and tribulation: defining black womanhood, 1920-1957 – Introduction – Elise Johnson McDougald – The struggle of negro women for sex and race emancipation / Elise Johnson McDougald – Alice Dunbar-Nelson – The negro woman and the ballot / Alice Dunbar-Nelson – Amy Jacques Garvey by Ula Taylor – Our women getting into the larger life / Amy Jacques Garvey – Women as leaders / Amy Jacques Garvey – Sadie Tanner Mosell Alexander – Negro women in our economic life – Florynce “Flo” Kennedy – A comparative study: Accentuating the similarities of the societal position of women and negroes / Florynce Kennedy – Claudia Jones – An end to the neglect of the problems of the negro woman! / Claudia Jones – Lorraine Hansberry An American commentary / Lorraine Hansberry

Chapter 3 Civil rights and women's liberation: racial/sexual politics in the angry decades – Introduction – Frances Beale – Double jeopardy: To be black and female / Frances Beale – Mary Ann Weathers – An argument for black women’s liberation as a revolutionary force / Mary Ann Weathers – Linda La Rue – The black movement and women’s liberation / Linda La Rue – Patricia Harden, Donna Middleton, and Patricia Robinson – A historical and critical essay for black women / Patricia Harden, Donna Middleton, and Patricia Robinson – Pauli Murray – The liberation of black women / Pauli Murray – Angela Davis – Reflections on the black woman’s role in the community of slaves / Angela Davis – Michele Wallace – Anger in isolation: A black feminist’s search for sisterhood / Michele Wallace

Chapter 4 Beyond the margins: Black women claiming feminism – Introduction – The Combahee River Collective – A black feminist statement / The Combahee River Collective – Cheryl Clarke – Lesbianism: An act of resistance / Cheryl Clarke – Barbara Smith – Some home truths on the contemporary black feminist movement / Barbara Smith – Bell Hooks – Black women: Shaping feminist theory / Bell Hooks – Audre Lorder – Age, race, class, and sex: Women redefining difference / Audre Lorde – Deborah K. King – Multiple jeopardy, multiple consciousness: The context of black feminist ideology / Deborah K. King – Jacquelyn Grant – Black Theology and the black woman / Jacquelyn Grant – Patricia Hill Collins – The social construction of black feminist thought / Patricia Hill Collins – Chapter 5 The body politic: sexuality, violence, and reproduction – Introduction – Barbara Omolade – Hearts of darkness / Barbara Omolade – Darlene Clark Hine – Rape and the inner lives of black women in the middle west: Preliminary thoughts on the culture of dissemblance / Darlene Clark Hine – Shirley Chisholm – Facing the abortion question / Shirley Chisholm – Beth E. Richie – Battered black women: A challenge for the black community / Beth E. Richie – June Jordan – A new politics of sexuality / June Jordan – Paula Giddings – The last taboo / Paula Giddings – Pearl Cleage – What can I say / Pearl Cleage – Evelynn Hammonds – Missing persons: African American women, AIDS, and the history of disease / Evelynn Hammonds – Chapter 6 Reading the academy – Introduction – Margaret Walker Alexander – Black women in academia / Margaret Walker Alexander – Gloria Joseph – Black feminist pedagogy and schooling in capitalist white America / Gloria Joseph – Elizabeth Higginbotham – Designing an inclusive curriculum: Bringing all women into the core / Elizabeth Higginbotham – Chapter 7 Discourses of resistance: interrogating black nationalist ideologies – Introduction – Pauline Terrelonge – Feminist consciousness and black women / Pauline Terrelonge – E. Frances White – Africa on my mind: Gender, counterdiscourse, and African American nationalist / E. Frances White – Barbara Ransby and Tracye Matthews – Black popular culture and the transcendence of patriarchal illusions / Barbara Ransby and Tracye Matthews – Alice Walker – In the closet of the soul / Alice Walker – Epilogue: Johnnetta B. Cole