The Rising Song of African American Women

"Omolade presents a challenging political perspective and analyzes the significance of Black women's lives in creating a powerful new way of writing."<br>-"Feminist Bookstore News, Jan/Feb 1999 <br>"Barbara Omolade presents a well researched and very detailed analysis of the imperatives that shape the lives of African American women...."The Rising Song of African American Women is worthwhile reading for those wishing to understand the history of African American women in U.S. society, how they have been imagined intellectually in the white academy, and most improtantly, how they have reimagined and reconstituted themselves so that today they offer a voice that can hardly be ignored."<br>-"RFR/DRF <br>"Omolade presents an unusually detailed and well-written look at issues, past and present, that have shaped the lives of African-American women, supporting her conversational essays with documentation...By tackling subjects that are rarely addressed inan academic format, Omolade offers new understanding of a group, often overlooked, misunderstood or misrepresented by society."<br>-"Publishers Weekly <br>"In Omolade's work we encounter a powerful voice one that will be hard to ignore. Omolade articulates a perspective shared by many women on a variety of contemporary social and political issues, as well as shedding new light on historical relationships and events."<br>-Martha Albertson Fineman, Columbia University <br>"Omolade's brilliant essays are a collage of personal voices, scholarship, rhetorical and incantatory riffs meant to inspire action or suggest new possibilities. With her roots in 60s movements, she branches in all directions, embraces her multiple identities--with all thecontradictions left in. If one would know the state of current debates--on race, gender, motherhood, sexuality--this wonderful book is indispensable."<br>-Ann Snitow, The New School for Social Research <br>

Part I: Historical Context, Contemporary Meanings 1. Hearts of Darkness 2. The Unbroken Circle: A Historical Study of Black single Mothers 3. Lay down This World 4. It's a Family Affair 5. Gender in Black Part II: Invisible to the Naked Eye: Black Women and The Academy 1. The Silence and The Song 2. Origins: the Roots of the Black Feminist Intelligentsia 3. A Black Feminist Pedagogy 4. Invisible to the Naked Eye: A Case Study of Black Women Students at the Center for Worker Education 5. The Lion's Rock Speech Part II: Praxis and Struggle 1. Ella Daughters 2. Black Codes 3. Black Men, Black Women and Tawana Brawley - The Shared Condition 4. We speak for the Planet 5. Lamentations