Black Feminism and Womanism are so interconnected! My exploration of womanism is meant to enlighten how it ties into RJ, how they coalesce and separate.
Abstract
Africana Womanism was a primer for readers on the term, its distinction from Black feminism, and its implications for future culture shift. The purpose of the piece was to show how Africana Womanism was developed and introduced into the world. The main mode of culture shift the author focuses on is literature. My main takeaways are as follows:
“It is true that to successfully destroy a people, its female component must be first destroyed. The female gender is the center of life, the magnet that holds the social cosmos intact and alive. Destroy her, you destroy life itself.” – pg xii
Black women did not create Black feminism, and it is apparent because so many Black women refuse to identify with that title. Womanism says that we are supposed to name ourselves.
Womanism, Africana Womanism and Africana-Melanated Womanism are concerned with the natural dynamic of male female interaction. Womanists love and appreciate men and people with sperm.
Author: Clenora Huson-Weems
Overview
The book was written as three sections: Theory; Five Africana womanist novels; and From Africana Womanism to Africana-Melanated Womanism. The book’s structure lends itself clearly to the purpose of the book. The theory section was very historically oriented. It had some storytelling about the social and academic dynamics of the field at the time where its author was conceptualizing the framework. The section on novels was quick and easy to digest. Each chapter was a synopsis of the literary work with a womanist analysis. Hudson-Weems was critical of the pieces, but mostly uplifted their culture shifting power through character and plot analysis. The final section was an interesting shift. I could tell that it was added later on as the theory of Africana Womanism was being developed. Africana Melanated Womanism by Clenora Hudson-Weems “…persuasively argues that the imposition of the feminist label serves to de-emphasize and recast the agenda of Africana women of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The agenda of these women…was to address the life-threatening conditions affecting Africans as a group, both genders together.“ pg 111.
The agenda of the Africana womanist is as follows; self namer, self definer, family centrality, in concert with men in struggle, flexible role players, genuine sisterhood, strong, male-compatibility, respected and recognized, whole and authentic, spirituality, respectful of elders, adaptable, ambitious, mothering and nurturing. What I found interesting in this book was that the author said that Black women are the arbiters of survival, freedom, security, happiness and liberation for the entire race. It sounds like they are the closest thing to the saviors of this world, and the remainder of the book takes this angle. According to the author, the primary concern of Africana Womanists is racial equity and liberation, emphasizing balance between men and women.
Highlights & Synthesis
My favorite parts of the book were where the author showed her genuine biases. Her explanation of feminism against womanism gave me a lot of clarity. The distinction to Africana-Melanated Womanism was in an attempt to call in all of the women of the African Diaspora. Black people know we are connected to folks all over the world because the presence of melanin is the common thread. There is global anti-Blackness because Africans who weren’t already dispersed before the Pangea split were world travelers! They were either expanding their territory through migration or were made refugees from conflict. Either way, melanated women across the world have a similar life philosophy in pursuit of human rights and self-determination for our families.
My critique is that trying to coin “Africana-Melanated Womanism” in an attempt to call melanated women back to Africana tradition is futile. Many melanated people who would otherwise align with Blackness cannot do so because of their internalized anti-Black sentiment. Their skin tells their history, but cognitive dissonance can be a mother******. This is an opportunity to use what we know about strategic messaging and propaganda. We can stop trying to force people to recognize Blackness as a value and make them believe in the other goodness that comes with it. If the Africana womanist values are strong enough to stand on their own, why continually reconnect Womanism to Africa. Is it not enough for us proud Black folk to acknowledge womanism’s history, and also let it permeate communities across the world based on its inherent values? In conclusion, this was a great clarifying piece that I would recommend to anyone trying to deeply understand the journey to liberation and human rights.
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