Afrikan American Women

Afrikan American Women: Living at the Crossroads of Race, Gender, Class, and Culture provides students with a selection of carefully curated readings that comprehensively address the psychological experience of women with Afrikan ancestry in the United States.

The anthology brings together the work of psychologists, social workers, historians, and other scholars who have studied Black female oppression. Their research examines the effects of race, gender, class, and culture on the mental, emotional, and physical health and psychosocial adjustment of Afrikan American women. The book provides a psycho-historical analysis of the experience of these women across their lifespans and discusses the historical and contemporary issues that have contributed to the current conditions they face.

The second edition features new authors and readings that examine the divine feminine, Black and Afrikan feminisms, colorism and hair bias, minimization of sexual assault, Black lesbian youth, Black motherhood, rites of passage, mourning and activism, and the women of the Black Panthers. Readings that were featured in the first edition of the anthology have been updated by their authors.

Afrikan American Women is ideal for courses in women’s studies, Afrikan American studies, psychology, and sociology courses.

A Statement from the Editor in Recognition and Celebration of Black History Month 2024

"In 1962, Malcolm X astutely characterized the status of Black women in the USA stating that 'The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.'

His statement called attention to simultaneity of oppression in the lives of Afrikan American women. The intersectionality of race, gender, and class joined with pervasive anti-Afrikan cultural sentiments have suppressed, marginalized, invisibilized, and demonized the true identities of Afrikan American women.

By debunking myths and stereotypes proliferated about the identity of Afrikan American women, this anthology offers a corrective to taken-for-granted narratives that inferiorize women of Afrikan ancestry. It focuses on restoring women of the Afrikan ancestry to their rightful place on the stage of humanity as ascendants of the first human beings whose contributions have often been ignored and undervalued in historical accounts.

Understanding who the Afrikan American woman is—her identity—from a psycho-historical perspective; examining the impact of the maafa (the Afrikan holocaust) on the attitudes, values, relationships, and behavioral functioning of Afrikan American women—ability to be her authentic self; and spotlighting her capacity to transcend the wounds of oppression—manifesting divine purpose—are the central themes analyzed by the authors. Readers are presented with an overview of the psychosocial experiences and sociohistorical forces impacting the adaptation and adjustment of Afrikan American women."