Mordant Belle

Image Credit: Media Rights

I have just learned about BookTV, a program on CSPAN. I am pretty much overjoyed about it.

And happily, you can watch a (crappy version, my apologies) in-depth interview with bell hooks. I’m still working on seeking out other authors within their horrible, horrible database…it seems I will have to do an individual search for each one instead of finding them based on other criteria (le sigh). Warning: You will need RealPlayer, which is free to download, but that’s a pain if you don’t already have it.

bell hooks is made of awesome. I already have listed one of her books, Feminism is for Everybody, as a great introductory text. I love her because she is not afraid to stand up and point out sexism or racism when she sees it (including pointing out sexism in anti-racist organizations or racism in anti-sexist and feminist organizations), but she does it in a way that make me, at least, want to take responsibility and make a change, compelling me to take responsibility for my mind, my self and my world, rather than putting me on the defensive.

Below the fold: Clip from The Media Education Foundation on her great documentary with them, Cultural Criticism & Transformation, as well as a clip of her interview on Charlie Rose and links to more great information on bell!

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Women, Race, and Class
by Angela Davis, 1983, Vintage, 288 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
Angela Davis is pretty much required reading, especially for feminists who care about understanding the impacts of race and class as they intersect with gender. A word of caution, however: the WOC blogs I read complain about us white folks thinking that reading and quoting Angela Davis (and other prominent WOC authors) at certain times makes us “un-racist”, or serves to address the concerns of minority women and poor women. It does not.

It certainly is a good starting point, though.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
Angela Davis is one of the most prominent multiracial feminists out there. This book was the first of it’s time to really explore the ties between the suffragettes and the abolitionist movement of the first wave. In many ways, the suffragettes (the first feminists, though they did not identify themselves as such; the term became more widely used later during the women’s liberation movement) were compelled to form a women’s rights movement in conjunction with abolition. In both the first and the second wave, women’s political consciousness was born fighting for rights for minorities, only to discover (in the case of the suffragettes) that they could not speak at rallies or appear in public because of stigmas about women (they were expected to stay behind a screen at public meetings). In another interpretation, working for civil rights for others made women more aware of the stigmas and restrictions placed against themselves. So in many ways, women’s liberation was born out of the fight for rights for African Americans.

Davis is an ubernerd in terms of education; she went to many colleges both in the U.S. and abroad, showing her deep love of learning. She was associated with both the Black Panther Party and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in the ’60s and ’70s. She is a socialist and was previously a political candidate in the Communist Party USA. She became famous after she was connected to the murder of a judge who was held hostage during a Black Panther prison escape attempt; she fled underground, and was eventually captured, arrested, tried, and acquitted in a famous trial. She is now a professor at the University of California and Presidential chair at UC Santa Cruz.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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Feminism is for Everybody
by bell hooks, 2000, South End Press, 118 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
I bought this little book, read the introduction, and was amazed. bell hooks is a cultural critic and writer, one of the most well known second wave women of color (at least to me). Here she provides an excellent feminist primer that addresses the history and spirit of the feminist movement, one which DOES do a good job of addressing race and class issues (unlike Full Frontal Feminism, which was much more for white, middle-class women who were “hesitant to call themselves feminist”, though there certainly is a niche for such a book). I would definitely recommend this as an introductory text.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
A description of the book from South End Press’ web site:

hooks applies her critical analysis to the most contentious and challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive rights, violence, race, class, and work. With her customary insight and unsparing honesty, hooks calls for a feminism free from divisive barriers but rich with rigorous debate. In language both eye-opening and optimistic, hooks encourages us to demand alternatives to patriarchal, racist, and homophobic culture, and to imagine a different future.

hooks speaks to all those in search of true liberation, asking readers to take look at feminism in a new light, to see that it touches all lives. Issuing an invitation to participate fully in feminist movement and to benefit fully from it, hooks shows that feminism—far from being an outdated concept or one limited to an intellectual elite—is indeed for everybody.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color
By Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, 2002, 3rd Woman Press, 370 pages (3rd edition)
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
I really want to read this book, but ran into several issues getting my hands on the 3rd edition, not the least of which being that my library’s copy is missing. Most of the copies of the 3rd edition that I find online are much too expensive; most were over $200, some were only $100. Anything less than $100 was very used. This is the second, and biggest, problem I ran into while trying to locate this book. The second edition, however, is much less expensive, though it lacks the newer material. Both of these editions seem to be out of print.

UPDATE: I finally got my hands on a gorgeous copy of the 3rd edition, by basically stalking the “New & Used” from Amazon.com and AbeBooks. It was awesome, I found one that was barely used, for only $42. If you want to get your hands on this book, I would recommend doing that.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
Originally published in 1984 (1983? ‘84? Sources vary!), this anthology, which includes poems, prose, and essays, was edited by two radical women of color (Chicanas, both). This Bridge Called My Back was groundbreaking, the first well-known book that really held white feminists’ feet to the fire, so to speak, about their deliberate ignorance of the racial disparities within the feminist movement, and called for a radical restructuring of America. This third edition contains all the original material from the first two editions, including their forwards, prefaces, and introductions, as well as a new forward by Moraga that she began writing on September 11, 2001.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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