-- 118 • TO EXIST IS TO RESIST! BLACK Fl!MlNJSM JN EUROPE .

8. Tate, 'Racial affective economies'. 9. Ibid., pp. 1480-1, Essed, 'Gendered preferences in raclalized spaces'. Heidi Mina, 1015. 'Decolonizing higher education: Black and the inter- 18 sectionality of race and gender: Journal of Feminist Scholarship 7(8), 1-11. Africanist 10. Shirley Anne Tote, 2016, "'I can't quite put my finger on if: Raclsm's touch: Sista-hood in Britain: Ethnicities 16(1), pp. 68-85 (p. 79). Creating 11. Mina, 'Decolonizing higher education'. Our Own Pathways 12. Ibid., pp. 75-7, 13. Moya Bailey, 2013. 'New terms of resistance. A response to Zenzele Isoke: Chijioke Obasi Souls 15(4), pp. 341-3. 14. Linda Martin Alcoff, 2006, Vi.slble Jdentitil!S: Race, Gender and the Self. Oxford University Press, New York, p. 103. 15. Cerise L. Glenn, 2012. 'Stepping In and stepping out. Examining the way anticipatory career socialization impacts Identity negotiation of African Attempts have been American women in academia'. In G. Gutierrez y Muhs, Yolande Flores made to provide an analytical Black women framework for Niemann, Carmen G. Gonzalez and Angela P. Harris (eds), Presumed Incom- that centraHses our experiences as individuals and perspectives both petent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women 111 Academia, Utah and collectives. Much of this work has focused on Black State University Press, Utah, pp. 133-41, feminism emanating from America, but this does not provide 16. Collins, 'Black : p. 268. reflection on the specific adequate situation in BrltaJn. Developments 17. 'Sheneneh' Is an African-American pop cultural figure of a loud-spoken and British feminism in Black 1992. have gone some way 1 stereotypical Black from the series Martin from to address this, however, it British context that brings is the 18. Istedgade is a street name, and the historical home of Copenhagen's red light· with it issues of contestation considered around who is district. An Increasing number of Black women, mostly from West Africa Black that are also translated into this discourse. Difficul- and without documents, do sex work in the area. ties around the use of existing feminist framew 19. Hedwig Lee and Margaret Takako Hicken, 2016. 'Death by a thousand orks with their roots embedded in and the marginalJsatlon Implications 18(2-4); ofBlack women cuts: The health of Black respectability politics'. S011/s many to declare has caused their difficulty with the theory 421-45. terminology and more resolutely the 20. Klmberle Williams Crenshaw, 1989, 'Demarginalizing the intersection of of feminism. has provided a useful alternative race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidlscrlmination doctrine, but in Britain has had much less appeal or recognition . and antiracist politics'. University of Chicago Legal Forum The chapter seeks to build on existing works in Black 1(8), pp. 139-67 (p. 149). to womanhood and contribute to emancipatory frameworks 21. Marianne Gullestad, 2006. Plausible Prtjudice, Everyday Experiences anil that foreground the authority of subjugated cognitive Social Images of Nation, Culture and Race. Unlversiletsforl knowers.' A theoretical aget, Oslo. i\frkanist framework termed 22. 251-3. Sista-hood in Britain' Ibid., pp. is offered as a Black female-centred 23. Didier Fnssln, 2011. 'Raciallzatlon: How to do races with bodies'. In,,pJt framework for analysls. 3 Within it ls recognition of the importance Mascio-Lees (ed.), A Comparison to the Anthropology if the Body anil rvalue of collectivity, connectivity, and commonaUty and Embodiment. Blackwell, West Sussex, pp. 419-34 (p: 424). ,Black women, difference amongst where Uved experience and self-deflnltlon 24. Said in English with an American accent, despite the rest of the conversadoa .n-sard. arc held in high being In Danish. Given the position put forward by 25. See Tate, 'Racial affective economies'. Hudson-Weems in her discussion 26. Glenn, stepping out'. of.ffilack feminism that 'Stepping in and 'for many in the academy who /frican DitJ!Pon' ff beyond reject it and who 27. Marleen de Witte, 2014. 'Heritage, Blackness and Afro-cool'. by creating alternative paradigms, 7(2), pp. 260-89. unsuccessful they experience blatant attempts to silence them via 28. Ibid., pp. 262-3. die ostracism and exclusion from " academic circle of either 29. Ibid., p. 266. publication ... and/or dlalogue:4 #I 'lie concluded that it could any attempt to truly outside Will be of a feminist frame met with contempt and result in a fruitless endeavour. However, 1JD • TO BXIST IS TO RBSIST: BLACK PBMINISM IN BUROPB APRJCANIST SfSTA•Hooo IN DRl1'AIN • 331 for those of us Black women who participate in the courageous act of seeking to reconnect to our histories and rejecting ,' we owe it to ourselves to at least try! Afdca by original connections to ,r adopting Afrkan names as part empowering of that connection. It is process we can undertake an FRAMING AFRICANIST SISTA-HOOD IN BRITAIN on an individual level, but collective. of Black women, claiming as a a name created by for white women (feminism) white women 6 does seem to Guest et al. discuss the work ofBruce Lee in developing his own fighting of help maintain the structures the oppressors. A valid point made style due to his dissatisfaction with existing styles. The end product is by Jain and Turner is: 'when look at the term feminist through we not a new fighting style but a synthesis of the most useful techniques the lens of the politics of naming see that it is not an impartial we from numerous existing reflecting fighting style Lee label and that there are multiple ones. In on this why women are reluctant reasons to identify with it'. 11 describes it as something that ls fluid and flexible, inviting practitioners been voiced The dissent that has for many decades both in Western to take from it what they choose rather than trying to follow a prescribed discourses and women's still remains active and unsatisfied. process. In Africanlst Sista-hood in Britain a similar fluidity is built In, '.Africanist Sista-hood in Britain' takes African a fluidity that allows for incorporation of the work of our Sistes without from womanism and Africana womanlsm the importance of being constrained by the frames of feminism. self-naming and as such makes to seek a variant within no allcmpt 7 a feminist label. It acknowledges The framework evolved as part of a PhD study by a Black woman with to the voices and responds of a significant number of women Black women at the centre of the research. It looked at perspectives'of. the terminology who have rejected both and framework of feminism equality and diversity from women working in a range of public sector of racism, as steeped in n hislory exploitation and white supremacy. organisations mainly in the north of England. The centrality of Bl:ack In addition to women of colour, Jain and Turner also highUght womanhood did not, however, negate the Inclusion 'of others, as the similar rejections of feminism from Lesbian and disabled women. research also Included culturally Deaf women in the workplace. Althougli They state: 'it ls still not we feel comfortable identifying something with and we are 11 the majority of the participants were Black (hearing) women (25), there Self-naming not alonc'. outside of existing models leads were also five culturally Deaf (white) women participants. Like Patricia creativity to greater freedom and in self-definition. SofoJaH poinls Hill Collins' Black feminist thought and 's womanl.am, out the limilatlons of the English language in which women Africanist Sista-hood In Britain also seeks alliances with other •Qdal are seen as an appendage to woman or female or the universalising men: use of man or hu m a groups in an attempt to address social Inequality in all its forms, 'it- oath sexes. She n to refer to further contrasts this with African this case, the alliance is sought with culturally Deaf women and with,thc lllltutral terminology: languages that use Nwa-oke (male) and incorporation of Deaf cultural discourse as a contribution to the study."' ,from Nwa-nyi (female) as examples the Igbo language of Nigeria with The central tenets of Afrkanlst Sista-hood in Britain are set out below; both deriving from the neutral word Nwa (child). A framework that embraces Sista-hood removes ,the appendages impUclt in feminism Self-naming • and womanism and the from which they derive, because words In doing so there is no reliance .. ,lllaScullne and thus womanhood on the As Black women when we connect to the many and indeed Black womanhood historical journeys ff asttbe central focus . emerges our African (an)Sistas - enslavement, colonial rule and the differeat ways many of our African countries have been raped and pill.agcil, and •centrality of Black womanho re-named by our oppressors - the Issue of self-naming becomes evei o d more important. The legacy of the Anglicised names many ofsitiontng of Black women. It is of Black womanhood though attempts of Black people, whether from the Caribbean· or elsewhere. fn,thc that causes some tension field. Hudson-Weems'' in i\frkana Womanism' provides a clear 232 • TO llXIST IS TO RBSIST: BLACK PllMINISM IN BUROPB APRICANIST SISTA·liOOD IN' Jlllltl'-AJN . 2Jl message about the pervasive state of race as the major factor in the sub- entails thinking about social reality as multi-dimensional, Uved jugation of Black women. She promotes the importance of prioritising identities as intertwined, as systems of oppression as meshed nod race for Black women as a prerequisite for dealing with questions of mutually constitutivc:11 gender. Black feminists in their criticism of Hudson-Weems' Africana ls central to Afrlcanist Sista-hood in recognising womanism point to the work of the Combahee River collective in the different ways multiple oppressions con impact simultaneously on America, who stated: 'We believe that under Is Black women from all backgrounds. However, within the fin ngs of as pervasive in Black women's lives as are the politics of class and race'10 my research there ls a recognition that our intcrsectional identities are (emphasis added). In this statement it ls clear that for the Black feminism not static and impact on us differentially in different environments. Any they speak of, neither race nor class can be seen as more pervasive than discussions about the pervasiveness of race, class and gender should patriarchy. Gender is always to be' seen as at least equally significant to also include the fluidity that accompanies ii. The pervasiveness of the all other aspects of identity. However, as Black women our lived reality different aspects of our identities can be place and time specific. My own often challenges this position. position as a researcher working with two different participant groups When we consider these academic debates in the context of the provides a good example of this. As a Black female hearing researcher, everyday lived experiences of Black women in the United Kingdom 'it: my identity has many facets, When researching with Black female partic- brings these complexities to life. For the Black female research partic- ipants my hearing status pervaded little if nny of the space we occupied, ipants in my study It was clear that, for some, race was interpreted1 as but my status as a hearing person became materially important in the the primary source of oppression. The public sector, which houses many research with culturally Deaf women. Issues of power surfaced in terms female-dominated professions, can also often test those gender boruls of existing histories of oppression in Deaf/hearing research relation- where Black women report the main perpetrators of racism as white ships but these were further complicated by e.risling histories ofracc and women. power as all the Deaf participants were also white women, In considering these issues the framework of Africanlst Slsta4iooo in Britlan adopts a similar approach to Africana Womanism, ..inf 1Re An Africanist approach recognition that race can and does often become more pervasille than gender even at the intersections. While recognising that there ,is• no The term fricanist' similar to Afrocentric principles adopts a Pan single universal position of womanhood, or indeed Black womanhood. African perspective in seeking to make diasporlc ties. In this way, it our frameworks need also be reflective of the fluidity of our ever:yiky makes connections to our (an)Sista-raJ or direct heritage In Africa. Like interactions that in many cases highlight race and/or other aspects lJ. ,'' however, there is also recognition of both a geographi- our identity as more influential than gender, This is not to negate the cal and Ideological notion ofAfrica. In her writing in Playing in the Dark: importance of intersectionality, which is slgnifkant to the A&k:anta' Whiteness and the Literary Imagination one of the key themes ls the way Sista-hood framework. • :t6 which Africa's or Africanist historical influences continue to shape the 1citrrent position of African-American people in America. Intersectionality For many in Britain, 'Black' hns become a political identity as an all-inclusive term for all who experience racism. ' 0 In taking an Afrlcanist For Crenshaw'7 there ls a need to acknowledge the validity of, creal . approach within the framework, there is recognition of the way that a space for recognition of Black women that reflects the di'l'trilty there has been an overcrowding of the Black space where all who are their experiences in order to protect them from legal, theoretic:al and· iiot white British have legitimised claim within the political tenn Black. political erasure. She introduces the notion of lnte l:fowever, in practice, the separation does not always end with the white useful way of understanding the multi-dimensional di lion, as illustrated by Henry's" writing about participating identity by applying this specifically to Black women. 1ntened tin· a iBlack History Month event In London, where Irish dancing was �34 • TO BXlST IS TO RBSIST: BLACK PBMINISM IN EUROPB APRICANIS't SIS'l'A-Hooo l'N'BlllT lN' . �1J being presented as one of the celebrations of Black history. There ls of our Black brothers, fathers, uncles, course a need to recognise Irish oppression at the hands of the English, grandfathers - many ha\'e provided a positive 0£,wliom will. contribution to our very however, locating this within notions ofpolitical Blackness can and does the being. Thij is not, experience of all Black women, due result in decentring, dilution and lack of recognition of Black people's to reasons such as the system, absent parents, interracial UK care specific experiences of structural racism. It also draws false equivalences parenting, fostering, adoption differing individual circumstances. and different forms However, Black women between people's experiences of nuanced of systematic often need to pool and men resources in order to fight the race oppression. nurture our struggle,and to children (male and female) to equip One impact of how the notion of political Blackness ls moblllsed is flght. them for the same the potential invlslbilising ofBlack people's lives and struggles, especially Womanlsm has been recognised as making stronger where they are a minority within a larger minority ethnic population. men than links with Black with white women when compared This was a finding in many of the northern towns and cities where I did to Black femln1sm.2-1 At the same time, it has been criticised my research. This invlslbillsing is a position demographically evident in for overlooking the problems of sexist oppression from Black men localities of many Black people, but curiously absent from policy debates towards Black women!' In Afrlcana womanlsm this issue is linked to which more often than not focus on a wider discussion of Black and African traditions of male and female working partnerships, For others, however, Africana womanism Minority Ethnic (BME) or 'Black' (in the political sense), which have Uvely thwarts critique 'cffec- of in Black communitics'. 16 become more homogenising than they should be. In taklng an Afrlcanitt Black feminism by definition with approach there Is more opportunity to make links with the importance its identification within the femlnist frame has been criticised of our histories, and connections to our (an)Slstas be that via our linRs for stronger associations with white women and Issues of gender oppression being prioritised over with Africa, the Caribbean or any other dlasporic lines. racial oppression. 11·•1 that of An Afrlcanist Sista-hood perspective Pooling resources with Black men takes elements from all these discourses to reflect on and recognise the shifting position with our men. we share It recognises the way 'racism divides The complicated histories between Black men and women m · of women certain categories and unites them with 9 relationship with our Black brothas22 historically and neceas,illy men'. • The aim is not to ignore a significance of the the sexist oppression that is present boundaried one, but one that is more complex than first appears tniany communities within Black in Britain. It ls more about feminist analysis. recognising the value in rela. tionshlps between Black men and women, In Britain capitalism has thrived on the exploitation of Blaclc while also trying to eradicate ,oppression. Africanist Sista-hood adopts from Africana womanlsm not just in terms of the trade in enslaved Africans but also in mfto 1 the partncrship approach in which there postwar migrations and employment patterns in th United .l(h)gdom. ls recognition of the different, e. equal, roles for but men and women set out in many This creates white privilege which white men and women work in,unlty 0 traditional African comrnunitles.> At the same time, it to preserve. adopts both womanists' and Black 'fentlrusts' thinking ofseeking to fight racial oppression while Carby points out that 'Racism ensures that Black men do nobliave fight gender oppression. working to same relations to patriarchal/capitalist hierarchies as white men/•> data shows poorer outcomes for Black people in education. employment, wealth and hereditary entitlements. These are we share with Black men, who in some cases fare :.worse tthan ·alack British feminist discourse incorporates a politically Sistas in these areas. As Black women we are for the mosb p-.rttlloiiJ. that is Black Identity specific to the UK context. Discourses into Black families where we will have shared our formative ,years and terminology around ,J)t>Utlcal Blackness have been criticised because of the unrealistic expec- ' 136 • TO BXIST IS TO RBSIST: BLACK Pl!MINISM IN EUROPE APRICANIST SISTA•liooo , QOlRJll'AlN • 137 tations encompassed in terms of the differences which are overlooked, i\FRICANIST SISTA-HOOD 1 IN BRITAIN': simplified and stereotyped,J as well as the differences in gendered FINDING OUR OWN WAY BACK which can have differing impacts on Black and Asian women,J1 A Block British feminist discourse that operates within this political In Africanist Sista-hood there is (re)Sista-nce to attempts to Blackness should also be open to criticism. 'Scholars and activists who individuals and groups in relation define to socially constructed norms. continue to utilise "Black" to describe groups other than Africans and framework in its epistemology The takes account of the situated accusation of being outdated and out of touch with of individual ontology Cacibbeans risk the Black women, in which there is an 1 autmnatic recognition the realities of multiracial Europe:J Taking an Africanist approach such of diversity that exists simultaneously with collectivity, commonality as that built into Africanist Sista-hood removes this contestation and and difference. It is also important to recognise that all the women in provides further validation of diasporic connections. n Sista-hood collectlve will have a shared experience of being a Black In adopting the terminology of Black British feminism, further limi- woman in Britain, no matter how diverse those experiences are. object to a feminist frame. Its link to Like many tations arise not just for those who emancipatory frameworks, for Afrkanist interpretivist Sista-hood, the Britishness may also work to exclude those who are Black in Britain but paradigm Is particularly appropriate as it reco gnises that do not identify as British, and for others, such as refugees and asylum different and often contested constructions exist, but further seeks seekers, who, despite living in Britain, may not be considered British. highllght the way particular to majority group constructions are dominant Reference to Afrlcanist Sista-hood 'in Britain' addresses this issue and. and influential, often at the expense of alternative subaltern construc- widens the scope of Afrlcanlst inclusivity within that shared location. tions from the minority. Issues of power, control of power and agency including through its lack of emphasis on Britishness. are central to this understanding. Those furthest from the control of power and resources that shape society are least likely to have their The importance ofexperience structions validated con- or acknowledged. Africanist Sista-hood other dominant challenges power relations which support hegemonic 14 H assumptions Calling on the work of Collins, Reynolds discusses the concept of what it is to be Black and female in contemporary British society, by of 'knowing without knowing: Within the framework of canist foregro unding Black female experiences as a source of validation. Sista-hood in Britain', the concept of 'knowing without knowing} :b Like Africana womanism, though Afrlcanist Sista-hood in Britain linked back to earlier positions described in Black feminist theorls:lb& moves away from existing feminist frameworks and works from a where white professionals strip experiences presented by Black woman, self-determined and self-structured position, it is not defined b)' and re-present partial or distorted accounts mo re palatable to wfilte oppositional status. Instead, it can be understood as recognising frames of analysis. hooks demonstrates this point well: 'Frequently potential that the can be born from Black women's collectives. Black women ... were dismissed as mere imitators:

29. Floya Anthlas and Nira Yuval-Davis, 1992. Rnciallzed Boundaries: Race, Nat/011, Gender, Colour a11d Class a11d the Anti-Racist Stn1ggle. Routledge, London, p. 106. 30. Sofola, 'Feminism and African womanhood'. 31. Tariq Modood, 1994. 'Political Blackness and British Asians'. Sociology 28(4), pp. 859-76. 32. Julia Sudbury, 2001. '(Re)constructlng multi-racial blackness: Women's PARTY activism, difference and collective Identity in Britain'. Ethnic and Racial Studies 24(1), pp. 29-49. 33. Modood, 'Political Blackness and British Asians'. 34. Patricia Hill Collins, 1998. Fighting Words: Black Wome11 and tl,e Seard, for Digital and Creative Labour Social Justice. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.· 35. Tracey Reynolds, 2002. 'Re-thinking a Black feminist standpoint'. Ethnic and Racial Studies 25(4), pp. 591-606. 36. bell hooks, 1984. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. South End Press, Cambridge, MA, p. 1 1. 37. lntelleclUalislng is not about academic expertise but about those who have a valuable contribution to make (Collins, Black Feminist Thoug1,t). 38. Floya Anthias, 2010. 'Nation and post-nation: Nationalism, transnalion- allsm and Intersections of belonging'. In Patricia Hill Colllns and John Solomos (eds), The Sage Handbook of Race a11d Eth11/c Studies. Sage, London, pp.121-48. 39. Colllns, 'What's in a name?' 40. Elsa B. Brown, 1004. 'Womanist consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of Saint Luke'. In , Cynthia Hudley, and Claudine Michel (eds), The Black Studies Reader. Routledge, New York, p. 55, 41. Springer, 'Third wave Black feminism?: p. 1064. 42, Brenda J. Brueggemann, 2009. Deaf Subjects: Betwee11 Identities. SUNY Pressa Albany.NY. 43. Ann duCille, 2004. 'Dyes and Dolls: Multiculrural Barbie and the Merchan• dising of Difference'. In Jacqueline Bobo, Cynthia Hudley and Claudine Michel (eds), The Black Studies Reader. Routledge, New York, p. 269. 44. Ibid., p. 2.67. 45. Heidi Safia Mirza, 1997. 'Introduction: Mapping a genealogy of BI feminism'. In H.S. Mirza (ed), Black British Feminism: A Reader. Routledse, London, p. 10. • 46. Clenora Hudson-Seemed, 1997. 'Africans womanism and the critical need for Africana theory and thought'. The Western Journal ofBlock Stuilta.2.1(2.), pp. 79-84 (p. 79)