Quiltmaking among African-American women as a pedagogy of care, empowerment, and sisterhood

ABSTRACT

Quiltmaking has historically been an art form and socio-political tool among African-American women. This paper will examine quiltmaking among African-American women as a radical form of pedagogy that is grounded in an ethic of care. From the historical roots of slavery to contemporary social movements like Black Lives Matter, African-American women have taught each other quiltmaking while forming close bonds of sisterhood to resist racism, oppression, and patriarchy. Drawing on Black feminist thought, this paper will show how quilt-making is connected to an ethic of care in African-American culture that is called ‘othermothering.’ The idea of ‘othermothering’ has its origin in African traditions and refers to women who share mothering duties [Collins, P. 2000. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York, NY: Routledge]. Quiltmaking practices permit the formation of bonds formed through ‘othermothering’ that support sisterhood, solidarity, and resistance.

KEYWORDS:

• Ethic of care
• African-American women
• othermothering
• quiltmaking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr. Alana Butler is currently an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She earned a Ph.D. in Education from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Her research interests include race and gender studies, low income children and youth, equity and diversity in schooling, and multicultural education.