Nation Women Negotiating Islam: Moving Beyond Boundaries in the Twentieth Century

Black women in the Nation of Islam demonstrated diverse ways of agency and executed their roles in nation-building, challenging the notion of total submission to Black men. C. S. Thembile West emphasizes that activism can include motherhood and marriage, and the home can be a "house of resistance." Nation Women Negotiating Islam highlights the significance of Black women as mothers, teachers, and custodians of freedom consciousness, contributing to individual households and communities.

Format: Hardback
Length: 234 pages
Publication date: 15 May 2023
Publisher: Lexington Books

The book "Nation Women Negotiating Islam: Moving Beyond Boundaries in the Twentieth Century" emphasizes the diverse ways in which Black women exercised agency and fulfilled their roles in the nation-building project of the Nation of Islam. Informants openly shared their experiences as women who were part of the Nation family between 1955 and 2000. Through their personal and collective struggles to uphold a revolutionary consciousness within their homes and communities, Nation women showcased that women did not have to be or were not necessarily submissive to Black men. They assumed respectable positions as wives and mothers. C. S. Thembile West highlights that activism does not have to exclude motherhood or marriage, and the home can be considered a "house of resistance," as described in Angela Davis's seminal article, "Reflections on the Black Woman's Role in the Community of Slaves" (1971).

In conclusion, the role of Black women as mothers, teachers, and guardians of freedom consciousness has had and continues to have a profound impact on individual households and communities. The book "Nation Women Negotiating Islam" aims to shed light on the intricate connections between Nation women as a vital part of the continuum of Black women's activism, despite employing different strategies.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793642370