bookletreview

[bookletreview]

When it comes to beginning a book review blog, I initially struggled with choosing the first book to speak about. However, it became obvious there was no other choice but Angela Davis’ Women, Race & Class. I first read it when I was fourteen years old, and it combined my love of reading with social justice. 

A brief bit on Angela Davis: She was born in Alabama in 1944. Davis is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, writer, academic, and philosopher. She is a retired professor who taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has an extensive history in revolutionary activism and at one point was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970. Ultimately, she was found not guilty in her trial on suspicion of involvement in the Marin County Civic Center invasion by Jonathan Jackson.

Women, Race & Class examines the history of feminist movements in the United States that focuses on the struggles and contributions of black women. It is a masterpiece in uncovering the complex field of feminist intersectionality. Published in 1981, it has solidified itself as a cornerstone book that is a must-read when it comes to exploring the fields of feminism and black history. 

The book underlines how classism and racism affected feminist movements in the United States, highlighting the complex interplay between various systemic power structures. Davis emphasizes the point of how feminist movements failed black women, lower-class women, lower-class black women, and other women who did not fit in the category of early-wave feminist leaders; upper-class white women. 

I cannot stress how talented Angela Davis is at weaving narratives with complex and thorough research. The book is divided into thirteen chapters, which each act as separate long essays that are interwoven with one another.

Trigger Warnings: Topics such as sexual assault and abuse are covered in this work -- particularly abuses towards women in slavery.

Chapters: 

The Legacy of Slavery: Standards for a New Womanhood. 

The Anti-Slavery Movement and the Birth of Women’s Rights. 

Class and Race in the Early Women’s Rights Campaign. 

Racism in the Woman Suffrage Movement. 

The Meaning of Emancipation According to Black Women. 

Education and Liberation: Black Women’s Perspective. 

Woman Suffrage at the Turn of the Century: The Rising Influence of Racism. 

Black Women and the Club Movement. 

Working Women, Black Women and the History of the Suffrage Movement. 

Communist Women. 

Rape, Racism and the Myth of the Black Rapist. 

Racism, Birth Control and Reproductive Rights. 

The Approaching Obsolescence of Housework: A Working-Class Perspective. 

This book is a must-read when it comes to deconstructing history education given in many Western and white-led curriculums. For me, it was a cornerstone in delving into the realm of books centred around Black history, intersectional feminism, and decolonization efforts. 

Other books of note (of which I will eventually write reviews): 

Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the Foundations of a Movement, Angela Y. Davis, Cornel West & Frank Barat, 2015. 

Are Prisons Obsolete? Angela Y. Davis, 2003. 

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Ibram X. Kendi, 2016.

The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation, Daina Ramey Berry, 2017. 

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson, 2020. 

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein, 2017. 

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Ann Jacobs, 1861. 

Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890 – 2000, Adam Fairclough, 2001. 

[bookletreview]

!!! IMPORTANT !!!

I've been thinking about starting a new blog where I review and discuss books that I've read. I read a variety of genres ranging from fantasy, sci-fi, history, social justice, critical race theory, politics, and ones regarding my joint major (biological anthropology and archaeology). I can create recommendation lists (others can share theirs) and (if the blog could build a community🤞🏻) have a book club eventually.

If I were to create that blog, would any of you be interested?