Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Black Feminist Interventions 2. The Dark Continent of Our Bodies: Constructing Science, Race, and Womanhood in the Nineteenth Century 3. Africa on My Mind: Gender, Counterdiscourse, and African-American Nationalism 4. The Evidence of Things Not Seen: The Alchemy of Race and Sexuality Bibliography

Promotional Information

A spirited and provocative engagement of black feminism

About the Author

Historian E. Frances White is Dean of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study of New York University.

Reviews

"...a contentious act of writing that shakes us out of our twentieth century complacencies--in matters of race, class, gender, and sex. White reveals her subtle and original thinking on an expanse of issues from the discursive world of black feminism to the 'deep misogyny of African-American public discourse.' For anyone who reads Dark Continent of Our Bodies, the experience will be liberatory." --Cheryl Clarke, poet and author of Living as a Lesbian "E. Frances White's analysis of Black feminism is a most welcome contribution that should increase and enhance the necessary dialogue between Black studies and gender studies. White's insightful and occasionally provocative readings of African American discourses of race, gender and sexuality, and her brilliant and balanced critique of the strengths and limitations of black nationalism and Afrocentrism make Dark Continent of Our Bodies an indispensable guide for scholars and activists seeking to overcome the fears and blindnesses that divide us from one another." --Kevin K. Gaines, Associate Professor, Center for Afro-American and African Studies, and Associate Professor, History Department, University of Michigan "Dark Continent of Our Bodies is the most cogent, insightful, provocative black feminist text I have read in a very long time. Sure to be controversial because of its critiques of other black feminist intellectuals, black nationalists, and major African American literary figures, such as James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, this book is an important contribution to contemporary American intellectual thought. Historian E. Frances White has written boldly, courageously, incisively, and passionately about persistent fault lines in the American body politic. Her project of critically engaging black feminist discourse from the vantage point of an 'insider' will surely provoke strong responses. This is precisely what black feminist theorizing should do!" --Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women's Studies, Spelman College