The Black Woman's Body as a Site of Resistance
The Misogynoir to Mishpat Research Network recognizes activists as one of the three key groups of African descended women whose work we will amplify. Our very bodies are often sites of resistance and the foundational space for our activism.
African American women, in particular, know that our ancestral mothers often inhabited bodies which were over-sexualized and brutalized in ways that others often were not. (For more information, read "Black Female Bodies and Resistance in Gayl Jones Corregidora and Eva's Man" by Smrity Sonal & Rajni Singh.)
Historically, Black women's bodies were used for labor and production of human capital - and to physically nourish the children of slave holders while our own children were left malnourished. In addition to these historical examples, the vulnerability of Black women's bodies continues to this day.
In addition to sexualized and reproductive violence, we continue to endure medical racism which contributes to Black maternal morbidity, over incarceration, and an active resistance to our presence in safe spaces such as well protected neighborhoods or even within work settings that value us and compensate for our leadership.
The containment of Brittney Griner, and the way her body was negotiated by a foreign State to validate violence and oppression, is a stunning turn in a familiar story. Historical and contemporary forms of containment and violence create anxiety and shame for many of us regarding the subjection of our bodies and often our psyches. These realities trigger many of us to this day in ways we cannot adequately name.
As African descended women, each time you negotiate working in academic settings which will not adequately compensate you for your labor, or when you are in an unpaid religious leadership position, your body becomes a sacred site of contestation. You are contesting erasure while simultaneously fighting for equity which you deserve and need. In many ways, those who embrace power on the margins do so through an activist lens.
We may not win awards for it, but the work is essential. One such example is Brittney Griner who held in Russia for what appears to be political reasons. We are grateful for her release, but continue to advocate for all women whose bodies are misused by politics, violence and hatred.
Dr. Nash for The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2024
Resources:
"Black Female Bodies and Resistance in Gayl Jones Corregidora and Eva's Man" by Smrity Sonal & Rajni Singh, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities (ISSN 0975-2935), Vol. IX, No. 2, 2017
Saidya Hartman, Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America, Oxford University Press, 1997
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The Misogynoir to Mishpat Research Network © 2024