In 2014, the state of Georgia and the city of Atlanta declared April as Black Women’s History Month. Pratt Library staff have highlighted related texts in the Humanities Department, Fine Arts and Music Department, and African American Department. Please enjoy the major contributions black women have made to religion, theatre, poetry, writing, political thought, activism, and art.  Check back for two more posts this month.

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Womanist Theology

Womanist theology is the reconceptualizing of Christian theology by black women for black women. It came into being as a reaction to social realities that marginalized black women on several fronts. The feminist movement had been largely in the hands of white female leadership and was not inclusive of the experiences of black women while black theology had been a historically male-dominated discipline. It is different from black feminism, seeking to depart from any link to mainstream feminism and to be self-defined.

Poetry & Writing

Included here is literary criticism by award-winning author Toni Morrison, “Playing in the Dark”, in which she brings to light the depths of racism in the Western literary canon and how she meticulously writes to create a black literary canon. Morgan Parker’s “There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce” and Alexis Pauline Gumb’s “Spill: Scenes of Black Feminist Fugitivity” are poetry written in celebration and in honor of the resiliency of black women. Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” is poetry that addresses the struggles that result from trying to survive in a country that mistreats its black citizens still today.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Explore the work of Jackie Ormes and other great black women comic book or graphic novelists as well as heroes. Diversity in comics led to a wave of new creators who represent a different spectrum of society.

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