What is Blackwom?nhood: An intersectional dialogue with the Young Wom?n’s Leadership Project1

Abstract

abstract In this open forum piece we bring together our lived experiences and intersectional identities as young Black women to make sense of the question: What is Blackwom?nhood? We explore a variety of topics ranging from identity, feminist activism, the environment, and decoloniality by focusing on the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, location, and language. The gendered and racialised identities given to Black women by culture and society greatly impact on their ability to produce knowledge and live a pleasurable life in the home, university, and, particularly, the workplace. In acknowledging that Blackwom?nhood is not a singular experience, this paper explores the multiple ways that women of colour choose to represent themselves in a world dominated by a racist, capitalist, patriarchal system. This piece is a provocation of thoughts on Black women’s representation, expression and sexual exploration, and the possibilities it has for producing critical feminist theories. In the current age of decoloniality, the question of what Blackwom?nhood is and means becomes increasingly important in understanding Black women’s role in activism, academia, and the workplace. We attempt to (re)imagine and (re)configure how Blackwom?nhood has resisted and evolved despite reductionist definitions and tropes.