Nicosia M. Shakes is an assistant professor of history and critical race and ethnic studies at the University of California, Merced.

“Women's Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa is a provocative ethnographic look at some of the most influential Black women’s theatre collectives in the world. Focusing on Jamaica and South Africa, Nicosia M. Shakes takes us on a journey into the world of theater for social change, emphasizing the ways that Black women have chosen use performance and embodiment to agitate for rights and speak out against multiple forms of violence. Engaging with performance as a public practice, Shakes demonstrates how the theater has been and continues to be a valuable political zone for Black women. Women's Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa makes critical contributions to Black performance studies, Black Studies, theater studies and anthropology, and is a must read for anyone interested in the transnational politics of race, gender, and the political stage.”--Christen A. Smith, author of Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil

• Acknowledgments A Note on Terms and Concepts Introduction: Race, Gender, Space “Mek Wi Choose fi Wiself”: Performing a Discourse of Justice in A Slice of Reality“The Wound is Still There”: Walk: South Africa and the Ontological Violence of Rape “Mi a go try release yu”: Mourning, Memory, and Violence in A Vigil for Roxie. “Alternative Spaces”: Black Self-Making, Space-Making, and the Work of Olive Tree Theatre Coda: Performing Activism across Space and Time Notes Bibliography Index

Nicosia M. Shakes is an assistant professor of history and critical race and ethnic studies at the University of California, Merced.

“Women's Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa is a provocative ethnographic look at some of the most influential Black women’s theatre collectives in the world. Focusing on Jamaica and South Africa, Nicosia M. Shakes takes us on a journey into the world of theater for social change, emphasizing the ways that Black women have chosen use performance and embodiment to agitate for rights and speak out against multiple forms of violence. Engaging with performance as a public practice, Shakes demonstrates how the theater has been and continues to be a valuable political zone for Black women. Women's Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa makes critical contributions to Black performance studies, Black Studies, theater studies and anthropology, and is a must read for anyone interested in the transnational politics of race, gender, and the political stage.”--Christen A. Smith, author of Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil

• Acknowledgments A Note on Terms and Concepts Introduction: Race, Gender, Space “Mek Wi Choose fi Wiself”: Performing a Discourse of Justice in A Slice of Reality“The Wound is Still There”: Walk: South Africa and the Ontological Violence of Rape “Mi a go try release yu”: Mourning, Memory, and Violence in A Vigil for Roxie. “Alternative Spaces”: Black Self-Making, Space-Making, and the Work of Olive Tree Theatre Coda: Performing Activism across Space and Time Notes Bibliography Index

Nicosia M. Shakes is an assistant professor of history and critical race and ethnic studies at the University of California, Merced.

“Women's Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa is a provocative ethnographic look at some of the most influential Black women’s theatre collectives in the world. Focusing on Jamaica and South Africa, Nicosia M. Shakes takes us on a journey into the world of theater for social change, emphasizing the ways that Black women have chosen use performance and embodiment to agitate for rights and speak out against multiple forms of violence. Engaging with performance as a public practice, Shakes demonstrates how the theater has been and continues to be a valuable political zone for Black women. Women's Activist Theatre in Jamaica and South Africa makes critical contributions to Black performance studies, Black Studies, theater studies and anthropology, and is a must read for anyone interested in the transnational politics of race, gender, and the political stage.”--Christen A. Smith, author of Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil

• Acknowledgments A Note on Terms and Concepts Introduction: Race, Gender, Space “Mek Wi Choose fi Wiself”: Performing a Discourse of Justice in A Slice of Reality“The Wound is Still There”: Walk: South Africa and the Ontological Violence of Rape “Mi a go try release yu”: Mourning, Memory, and Violence in A Vigil for Roxie. “Alternative Spaces”: Black Self-Making, Space-Making, and the Work of Olive Tree Theatre Coda: Performing Activism across Space and Time Notes Bibliography Index