530
Views
1
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

By Us, for Us? Past and Present Black Feminist Publishing Narratives and Routes

 

Abstract

From zine-making to creating independent publishing houses, throughout history, Black women have found routes that enable them to autonomously communicate their perspectives and share their Black feminist creative and campaigning work. The ascent of social media and online content-sharing platforms in recent decades has generated publishing avenues that are often deemed to be more democratic than traditional press and print pathways. The rich history of Black feminist publishing has led to present-day digital forms of ‘do it yourself (DIY)’ and ‘do it together (DIT)’ publishing, including the proliferation of first-person online essays and video blogs (vlogs). This paper maps parts of the legacy of Black feminist publishing in Britain and the broader Black press history that it is part of. There is an exploration of opportunities and challenges involved in Black women’s contemporary publishing via digital terrains, such as tensions between how independent Black feminist writing and cultural production can gain recognition online, yet, in ways that can result in the harassment of Black feminists and the fuelling of mainstream media activity which lacks a Black feminist position. Considering past and present examples of Black feminist publishing in Britain, this paper examines how and why such approaches have changed.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.