Stepping Forward
Black Women in Africa and the Americas

Catherine Higgs (Edited by), Barbara A. Moss (Edited by), Earline Rae Ferguson (Edited by)

9780821414552

Hardback, published 30 November 2002

368 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.65 kg

"Catherine Higgs provides an absorbing account of rival black women's self-help organizations in Cape Province, South Africa, from 1922 to 1952 that considers issues of education and status, class and ethnicity, effects of male outmigration, and even marital infidelity!" (African Studies Review)

A unique and important study, Stepping Forward examines the experiences of nineteenth- and twentieth-century black women in Africa and African diaspora communities from a variety of perspectives in a number of different settings.
This wide-ranging collection designed for classroom use explores the broad themes that have shaped black women's goals, options, and responses: religion, education, political activism, migration, and cultural transformation. Essays by leading scholars in the field examine the lives of black women in the United States and the Caribbean Basin; in the white settler societies of Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa; and in the black settler societies of Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Among the contributors to this volume are historians, political scientists, and scholars of literature, music, and law. What emerges from their work is an image of black women's agency, self-reliance, and resiliency. Despite cultural differences and geographical variations, black women have provided foundations on which black communities have not only survived, but also thrived. Stepping Forward is a valuable addition to our understanding of women's roles in these diverse communities.