Can (or should) white women do Black feminist theory?: exploring tensions, contradictions, and intersectionalities while performing justice-focused research

Black feminist thought is produced by and for Black women, but could it be applied by - be the conceptual lens for - others? How do/should I position myself as a white woman doing Black feminist work? How do I de-centre myself, centre Black voices, and also use the power that my whiteness provides t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Leisure (Waterloo) 2023-01, Vol.47 (1), p.101-119
Main Authors: Schmidt, Alayna M., Outley, Corliss W., Schultz, Callie S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anti-racism
Black feminist theory
combattre le racisme
feminism
femmes blanches
féminisme
théorie féministe noire
white women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Black feminist thought is produced by and for Black women, but could it be applied by - be the conceptual lens for - others? How do/should I position myself as a white woman doing Black feminist work? How do I de-centre myself, centre Black voices, and also use the power that my whiteness provides to do the type of social justice work Black feminist thought approaches demands? Here, I wrestle with the answers to these questions mainly through my 'conversations' with Black feminist intellectuals such as Collins (2000), Lorde (2007), Cooper (2018), and Kendall (2020). In this reflective piece, I explore six 'lessons learned' which emerged from the tensions/conflicts I encountered while doing this project in the confines of academia with the goal of considering how academics and practitioners can create knowledge in anti-racist ways.
ISSN:1492-7713
2151-2221
DOI:10.1080/14927713.2022.2141835