Color of Violence

"Anyone who's complacent about the successes of the feminist movement should dip into this collection . . . about the women left behind, left out, or simply forgotten." * Publishers Weekly * "A powerful guide for activists, educators, community organizers, and anyone asking the question, 'What would it take to end violence against women of color?'" * WATER * "Color of Violence . . . boldly challenges conventional feminist thought and contemporary antiviolence initiatives. . . . [Its] contributors reveal necessary truths about the failures of traditional social service and criminal justice-oriented approaches to ending violence against women. . . . INCITE! challenges us to look beyond the conventional doctrine on violence against women that has influenced and sometimes hindered contemporary antiviolence organizing to establish a new framework for activism that acknowledges and incorporates our diverse, sometimes divergent, perspectives as women of color." -- Keidra Chaney * Bitch * "This anthology would serve as an invaluable classroom source on Third Wave feminism, antiracist social movements, and social justice movements in the United States in the twenty-first century." -- Sharmila Rudrappa * Journal of American Ethnic History * "These compelling essays are written by women who bring passion, energy, anger, and insight to an injustice that has taken a back seat to other social justice issues: violence perpetrated on women of color. The writings are impressively comprehensive in their global scope, historical insight, and unyielding passion. The book reminds readers that the antiviolence movement, although perhaps once at risk of fading, remains profoundly important, especially to women, and most especially to women of color. . . . These bold women occasionally shame, always inform, and often challenge readers to finish the book and embark on the cause of finally ending the violence that women of color have too long endured." -- D. A. Mathews * Choice * "A deeply thoughtful contribution to radical anti-violence activism . . . Colors of Violence engages a complex and diverse dialogue about forms of violence, resistance, and movement building. . . . [It] does a skilled job of instigating a thoughtful and complex discussion on a topic that has not received adequate attention even among radicals." -- Chloe Tribich * Against the Current * "Consistently, the articles discuss the importance of and strategies around movement-building among communities of color, specifically radical women of color, in their shared struggles for liberation. They also speak to a great need for activists to learn about intersecting forms of oppression that may be undervalued or ignored. . . . And lest we forget, the book does not stand alone. The women of Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology are not only writers, speakers, poets, and academics but also activists, concerned with bringing about the change that they write. We can be part of their liberation, and our own, by listening to their voices." -- Katie Seitz * Off Our Backs * "Every essay in this collection reveals another critical aspect of being a woman of color in the United States today. . . . It is an excellent starting point for understanding some of the issues today for women of color actively working for social change." -- Rachel Pepper * Curve * "Color of Violence . . . challenges every reader to recognize and fight the subtle and not so subtle forms of violence that manifests and is inflicted upon women of color." -- Vernetta K. Williams * Callaloo *

INCITE! is a national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a movement to end all forms of violence against women, gender non-conforming, and trans people of color through direct action, critical dialogue, and grassroots organizing.

Introduction 1 I. Reconceptualizing Antiviolence Strategies 1. Rethinking Antiviolence Strategies: Lessons from the Black Women's Movement in Britain / Julia Sudbury 13 2. Disability in the New World Order / Nirmala Erevelles 25 3. Federal Indian Law and Violent Crime / Sarah Deer 32 4. Feminism, Race, and Adoption Policy / Dorothy Roberts 42 5. The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice / Loretta J. Ross 53 6. Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pilars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing / Andrea Smith 66 7. A Call for Consistency: Palestinian Resistance and Radical US Women of Color / Nadine Naber 74 II. Forms of Violence 8. The Color of Violence / Hauani-Kay Trask 81 9. Four Generations in Resistance / Dana Erekat 88 10. The War to Be Human / Becoming Human in a Time of War / Neferti Tadiar 92 11. The Forgotten "-ism": An Arab American Women's Perspective on Zionism, Racism, and Sexism / Nadine Naber, Eman Desouky, and Lina Baroudi for Arab Women's Solidarity Association, San Francisco Chapter 97 12. Relections in a Time of War: A Letter to My Sisters / Dena Al-Adeeb 113 13. Don't Liberate Me / S. R. 118 14. "National Security" and the Violation of Women: Militarized Border Rape at the US-Mexico Border / Sylvanna Falcon 119 15. The Complexities of "Feminicide" on the Border / Rosa Linda Fregoso 130 16. INS Raids and How Immigrant Women are Fighting Back / Renee Saucedo 135 17. Law Enforcement Violence Against Women of Color / Andrea J. Ritchie 138 18. Crime, Punishment, and Economic Violence / Patricia Allard 157 19. Pomo Woman, Ex-Prisoner, Speaks Out / Stormy Ogden 164 20. The War Against Black Women, and the Making of NO! / Aishah Simmons 170 21. Medical Violence Against People of Color and the Medicalization of Domestic Violence / Ana Clarissa Rojas Durazo 179 III. Building Movement 22. Unite and Rebel! Challenges and Strategies in Building Alliances / Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez 191 23. Sistas Makin' Moves: Collective Leadership for Personal Transformation and Social Justice / Sista II Sista 196 24. Disloyal to Feminism: Abuse of Survivors within the Domestic Violence Shelter System / Emi Koyama 208 25. Gender Violence and the Prison-Industrial Complex / Critical Resistance and INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence 223 26. Trans Action for Social and Economic Justice / TransJustice 227 27. "The Personal is the Private is the Cultural": South Asian Women Organizing Against Domestic Violence / Puneet Kuar Chawla Sahota 231 28. An Antiracist Christian Ethical Approach to Violence Resistance / Traci C. West 243 29. Taking Risks: Implementing Grassroots Community Accountability Strategies / Communities Against Rape and Abuse (CARA) 250 30. poems on trying to love without fear / maiana minahal 267 Endnotes and Works Cited 270 Index 305 About the Contributors 321