I AM an Angry Black Woman: Black Feminist Autoethnography, Voice, and Resistance

Abstract

This article couples Black feminist thought (Collins, 2009) and autoethnography to advocate for Black feminist autoethnography (BFA) as a theoretical and methodological means for Black female academics to critically narrate the pride and pain of Black womanhood. Rooted in my desire to “talk back” (hooks, 1989) to systemic oppression as a biracial (Black and White) Black woman, I position anger as a productive force that fuels coming to voice through BFA as an act of resistance. In this article, BFA is used to self-reflexively explore my everyday experiences as an “outsider within” (Collins, 1986) and problematize the omnipresence of racism and sexism (at the least) in the everyday lives of Black women. Situating my anger as just and justifiable, I locate my voice directly in response to controlling imagery, such as the angry sapphire that denotes angry women of color as unruly, while simultaneously highlighting the need for “progressive Black sexual politics” (Collins, 2005, p. 16) that bear witness to the productive anger of Black women.

Keywords:

• anger
• autoethnography
• biracial identity
• Black feminist thought
• resistance
• voice

Acknowledgments

A previous version of this manuscript was presented at the 2010 National Communication Association Conference.

The author would like to express sincere thanks to the reviewers, Dr. Elyse L. Pineau, Dr. Tina Harris, and Ms. Althea Hart for their encouragement and insight.

Notes

I choose to identify as a biracial Black woman to mark both avowal and ascription in regard to identity performance. Hence, I identify myself as biracial to mark both my Black and White cultural roots. However, my body is often read solely as Black. I mark this as a political choice that I recognize can be read as offensive. For example, I am often asked, “Why can't you just be Black?” which I interpret as a request, from White and Black folks alike, for me to be “Black Period”— as in easily stamped “understood.” While I understand the desire for simplicity that I interpret backing such requests, in alignment with Collins (2009), who calls attention to the rich diversity among Black women, I prefer to acknowledge all of who I am as opposed to picking and choosing among binary oppositions.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education (“The Profession,” 2011) Almanac Issue (reporting on the most recent statistics available), in the fall of 2009 in the United States 4.7% of full, 6.6% of associate, and 7.9% of assistant professors identified as Black and female.

While “Other stories” (Calafell & Moreman, 2009) written by women of color in the academy remain rare, especially in national communication journals, there are a number of powerful, edited collections that address this topic. For examples, see Berry and Mizelle (2006); James and Farmer (1993); and Niles and Gordon (2011).

The use of “formal conceptualization” here is done so intentionally to mark that Black female activists and scholars such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Jacobs, Maria Stewart, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Zora Neale Hurston, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, bell hooks, June Jordan, Angela Davis, Michelle Wallace, Audre Lorde, Barbara Smith, Barbara Ransby, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Patricia Hill Collins, and innumerable others have been engaged in the art of rhetoric, narrative, and autoethnographic writing for years without the use of formal academic labels. This list of Black feminist activists is by no means complete. For compilations of Black feminist works, see Bambara (2005); Guy-Sheftall (1995); Hull, Scott, and Smith (1982); Lerner (1972); and Smith (2000).

For eye-opening discussions of the lack of academic works by and about the lived experiences of Black women and critiques of how systems of oppression constrain the visibility of the works that have been published, particularly in the field of communication, see Allen (2002); Davis (1998, 1999); and Houston and Davis (2002).

For popular and academic discussions of the celebration and controversy surrounding The Princess and the Frog, see Barnes (2009); Jones (2009); and Lester (2010).

See Madison (1995) for a rich Black feminist critique of the ways that the representation of Vivian, the White female main character in Pretty Woman, reproduces dominant notions of Black female inferiority despite the absence of a Black female main character.

Angela Davis was a political activist when she was named as an accomplice in a mass shooting that occurred in August 1970; she was accused because some of the guns used were registered in her name (Davis, 1974; James, 1998). Believing that the charges were unjust and based on her association with the Communist and Black Panther parties, coupled with her fear of the U.S. government's inhumane practices, she went on the run for two months and was listed as one of the FBI's Most Wanted. Captured in 1970, she was arraigned on charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder and then fully acquitted in 1972 (James, 1998).

Anita Hill was summoned by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, as a survivor of sexual harassment, to testify against her perpetrator, Clarence Thomas, when he was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1991. Forced to testify at hearings called to determine whether Thomas would be confirmed as the 106th Supreme Court Justice, Hill's testimony was aired worldwide via the media, which resulted in racist and sexist criticism being directed at Hill despite her position as a survivor of gender violence. Despite her credible and graphic testimony, Hill was ostracized as a traitorous sapphire while Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Illustrating the ongoing nature of violence against Black women, Hill was recently contacted by Virginia Thomas, the wife of Clarence Thomas: Virginia Thomas left a phone message in October 2010 requesting an apology from Hill and an explanation for “why you did what you did with my husband” (Savage, 2010). For popular and academic discussion of the significance of the hearings, see Bell (2004); Gibbs (1991); Morrison (1992); and Smolowe (1991).

On the heels of the Thomas–Hill hearings, Desiree Washington testified against Tyson for raping her in his hotel room in 1991 in State of Indiana v. Michael G. Tyson. She did so despite prolific threats, accusations that she was lying, and being stereotyped as a gold-digging jezebel. Tyson was sentenced to six years, served only three, and was then welcomed back to his Southington, Ohio, home by fans and a parade, led by Reverend Al Sharpton, in Harlem, New York (Coleman, 1995; Simms, 1995). For popular and academic discussion of the significance of this case, see Brown (1999); Roberts and Garrison (1994); Rosenfeld (1992); Steptoe (1992); and White (1999).