鈥淲hen you鈥檙e thinking about blackness, or black women or other underrepresented groups, you鈥檝e got to think about how ideas come into public in different ways 鈥� alternative, creative, and really empowering and powerful modes of 鈥� galvanizing people,鈥� said Assistant Professor of History Emily Owens Thursday afternoon.
In her introductory speech, Owens spotlighted the strategies that Ashley Farmer, assistant professor of history at University of Texas-Austin, used to analyze the role black women played in the Black Panther party.
During a Thursday talk hosted by the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, titled 鈥淭he Black Women Intellectuals and Activists Who Revolutionized Black Power,鈥� Farmer spoke about the influence of black women in political movements, a role often overlooked by historians. 鈥淏lack women used 鈥� literature and artwork to push the (Black Panther) party to formulate and endorse gender inclusive ideology and organizational culture. And their success at reshaping the party鈥檚 gender dynamic shows that the Panther鈥檚 record on gender roles was more progressive and complex than we previously acknowledged,鈥� Farmer said.
Throughout the talk, Farmer demonstrated how black women used intellectual products to challenge gender roles and cast a broader conception of being a revolutionary. In doing so, these women expanded their roles in American society, she added.
For instance, through her analysis of Linda Greene鈥檚 lyric essay 鈥淭he Black Revolutionary Woman,鈥� Farmer contended that the traditionally masculine and militant image of the Black Panther party isn鈥檛 the 鈥渙nly axis by which we have to measure black women鈥檚 ability to be panthers and revolutionaries. 鈥� I see Greene, here, as offering a holistic vision of the female revolutionary persona instead of fitting black women into masculine constructs and challenging the idea of the revolutionary itself 鈥� that the revolutionary had to be a man.鈥�
Farmer鈥檚 talk also included analysis of several different works produced by activists such as Gayle Dickson and Tarika Lewis. The works, which were primarily published in the Black Panther 鈥� the party鈥檚 namesake newspaper 鈥� ranged from drawings and mixed media pieces to poems and literature.
To conduct the research underlying her broader theory, Farmer interviewed various women involved with the Black Panther party, and examined the artwork and poetry that they and their contemporaries have produced.
We get a different story when 鈥渨e not only center black women, but also focus on their writing and their intellectual production. Indeed the very same periodicals, as you see here with the Black Panther newspaper 鈥� that scholars often used to frame black power as male dominated or sexist 鈥� are actually brimming with information about black women鈥檚 thoughts, actions and philosophical leanings,鈥� Farmer said.
Reflecting on Farmer鈥檚 novel techniques, Owen said Farmer showcased 鈥渨hat good history is. That鈥檚 how we find stuff. (These women) pointed her in directions other historians have just missed.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 really shown us that women were there, and that they were transformative within the Black Panther party,鈥� she added.
Magalis Santana, a Cranston resident and recent Rhode Island College graduate, attended the talk because she wrote a thesis on the 鈥渋ntersectionality of feminism, and (the event) piqued my interest.鈥�
Santana liked how Farmer鈥檚 analysis of art broke the 鈥渃ookie cutter鈥� sensibility of history study by not relying on traditional sources of information such as books and other texts.
鈥淚 really hope this event will solidify the importance of Black women through the Civil Rights movement and other activist events as black women are often left out of the picture,鈥� said Kimberly Collins 鈥�22, who also attended the event. 鈥淗elping put the frame and the work of black women into a greater, larger context will help not only inspire me but make clear the role women have throughout these movements.鈥�
