#BlkWomenSyllabus (Black Women Syllabus), is a Twitter movement using the hashtags #blkwomensyllabus or #blackwomensyllabus to compile a list of recommendations for readings about black women. Imani Brammer at Essence Magazine has described it as "a reading list to empower Black women",[1] and according to the blog For Harriet, "the hashtag was initiated by Dr. Daina Ramey Berry and...Scholars, historians, writers, editors and more have contributed to the growing trend."[2]
Black Enterprise stated that movement "sparked initiatives of female empowerment."[3] It was created in response to violence toward women of color by United States police and is a part of the larger movement Black Twitter.[4]
Background
editThe Black women syllabus is part of a larger effort by scholars to make widely available information often missing in higher education. The best-known example of this is Melissa Harris-Perry's Black Feminism Syllabus.[5] Similar to other hashtag campaigns on Twitter, such as the #FergusonSyllabus,[6] #SayHerNameSyllabus,[7] and #CharlestonSyllabus,[8] #blackwomensyllabus is a crowd-sourced list of reading recommendations by Twitter users, specifically focused on articles, essays, and books about women of color.
The hashtag began when the historian Daina Ramey Berry, PhD tweeted on August 11 "given #CharnesiaCorley time 4 #blkwomensyllabus...". Charnesia Corley, a 21-year-old black female Texas resident, was pulled over at a Texaco gas station on June 21, 2015, accused of running a stop sign.[9] After the deputy allegedly smelled marijuana coming from Corley's car, the woman was forced to remove her clothing, bend over and later was held face down to the ground as police officers probed her vagina while forcing her legs open.[9] Corley told Huffington Post, "I'm traumatized... It was humiliating. I feel like the law is supposed to protect you and not do this. I just don't feel safe anymore. My self-esteem has literally dropped and I can't even step out and be seen because I feel so embarrassed." [10]
Though the incident in Texas with Charnesia Corley was the stated impetus for the #blackwomensyllabus campaign, other instances of police brutally against women have added to the momentum toward this Twitter movement, such as the death of Sandra Bland, found dead in a jail cell also in Texas, on July 13, 2015, after being pulled over by a white police officer for a traffic violation.
References
edit- ^ Brammer, Imani. "Thank #BlkWomenSyllabus for the Ultimate Reading List to Empower Black Women". Essence. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ Foster, Kimberly. "#BlkWomenSyllabus: Here Are 25 Must Reads for the Empowered Black Woman". For Harriet. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ Hazelwood, Janell. "#BlkWomenSyllabus: Scholars Seek to Use Hashtag to Advocate for Female Knowledge Empowerment Women combine efforts to highlight intellectual power of black women". Black Enterprise. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
- ^ Williams, Apryl. "#BlackTwitter: a networked cultural identity". The Ripple Effect. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ Harris-Perry, Melissa. "The 'MHP' Black Feminism Syllabus". MSNBC. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ Chatelain, Marcia. "Teaching the #FergusonSyllabus". Dissent. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ^ Mercado, Monica. "#SayHerNameSyllabus". Storify. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ Blain, Keisha. "#Charlestonsyllabus". African American Intellectual History Society. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ a b Carroll, Rory. "Texas woman accuses police of sexual assault over body-cavity strip search". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
- ^ Lohr, David (10 August 2015). "Woman Says Gas Station Strip Search Was Like Sexual Assault". HuffPostCrime. Retrieved 12 August 2015.