This reading-intensive course will explore several primary texts and articles by Black women writers, poets, performance artists, and singer/songwriters from the sixteenth century to the present. Students will investigate the canon and complexity of Black women's writing to determine the ongoing impact of oppression on the Black female body and mind.
Central themes in the course include Black women as oracles and orators, Black women as wet nurses during the system of slavery, and subsequent damaging tropes attributed to Black women such as the jovial Mammy, the insatiable power-hungry Jezebel, Sapphire, the angry Black woman that emasculates Black men, and the loyal Black Queen so royal she is relegated to her royal castle without a conduit for her voice. Students will consider and apply the themes of visibility, invisibility, and hypervisibility by submitting profound, thought-provoking, and innovative written and creative assignments. This course includes examining place and women's connection to nature as we explore Black women in the domestic sphere and the power of the porch, the kitchen, and the clearing deep in the woods where Black folk gathered for healing and hope. In the spirit of the Sankofa bird, we will go back to honor Black literary figures such as Phyllis Wheatley, Audre Lorde, Zora Neale Hurston, and Maya Angelou. The course culminates with a surge of Afrofuturistic and horror noire writing from contemporary Black women in the United States and the Caribbean. These emerging works interrogate Black women's struggles alongside the lives of marine mammals to demonstrate how Black women are undrowned, unapologetic, and dedicated to thriving. By examining writings documenting these precious stages of Black women's lives, students will cultivate an ability to recognize and trouble the water.
Authors whose work we will engage will include Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, adrienne maree brown, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Tananarive Due, Nina Simone, June Jordan, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, Gloria Naylor, Ntozake Shange, Luisah Teish, Ifi Amadiume, and Stephanie Malia Morris, and Danielle Boodoo Fortune.
- Instructor: Mandisa Wood