Book CFP: Reflections on the N-Word: Black Females Speak

FP Deadline: November 1, 2008.

Purpose of Project
Through writing and visual art, this project will help to give voice to the Black identified females who want to express their perceptions of, experiences with, and concerns about, the word “nigger”.

Theoretical Framework and Influences

bell hooks' black looks , Tim Wise , Audre Lorde's Sister Outsider , Maya Angelou's powerful keynote speech at the Rhinebeck NY Women and Power Conference of September 2005, and James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time and my interests in Critical Race Feminist Theory have been my primary motivators for this project. I also draw from Michel Foucault's theories on power and Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I must thank Maya Angelou for her encouragement and inspiration. At the September conference, with engaging passion, she recited Countee Cullen's Poem, “Nigger” , and from there, the initial concept of this project was born.

The first time I remembered being called a “nigger”, I was the age of twelve. Though it took me more than a decade to fully articulate my experience of that day, it had always astounded me how much rage and fear that word had instilled in me. It wasn't until fifteen years later that I began to understand how profoundly emotional and often traumatic that this one word has been to a majority of Black identified people who have been survivors of it, including myself. It was through reading bell hooks, June Jordan, W.E.B. DuBois, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and other "resisters of oppression" as well the expression of fiction book writing that I was able to explore my emotions as well as my understanding of my social status as a Black female in a country in which institutionalized sexism, heterosexism, classism and racism is embedded in the institutions and policies of the status quo. It was in the pages of bell hooks that I first ran across her critical consciousness paradigm, inspired by her mentor, Paulo Freire. Through this practice, I was able to understand my relationship with race, class, sexuality, and gender status within a United States steal healing (and in denial) about its sordid history of racialized oppression. Simultaneously, I also wanted to understand these systems of inequalities but not be solely defined or limited by them. I stopped thinking of my position as a "victim" and realized that I am a "survivor" capable of making positive change through the voicing of my experiences.

"I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood."
- Audre Lorde

"We are the ones we've been waiting for."

- Sweet Honey in the Rock

Black identified women and girls, come forth and share your experiences, critiques and reflections on “the n-word”.

Call for Papers/Materials!! Submit Your Voice

This is a call for narratives, poetry, photography, other types of visual art, and critical essays for a book anthology about Black identified females who want to :

* creatively convey their experience(s) of being called a n*gger
* Reflections on the word n*gga
* How experience with the n-word has affected your emotional and or physical health
* Share their experiences of when they had heard or seen the word even though it may not have been directed towards them.
* Explore how did being called the n-word as a child shaped your consciousness as an adult?
* Reflect on how you felt when you read the n-word in required school readings such as Huckleberry Finn and Grapes of Wrath.
* Analyze David Chappelle's use of the n-word in his comedy
* Share your reactions and feelings when hearing the n-word in a public space, such as in a movie theater by a character in the movie.
* Critique your experiences with the n-word or hearing it by a friend or family member.
* Teaching your child about the n-word.
* If you read Randall Kennedy's book, Nigger, or any other book with the n-word in it's title, what was it like for you?
* These topics are just for brainstorming purposes. The sky's the limit!

Who is invited to submit their voice :
All Black identified girls and women from all sexual orientations, educational levels, nationalities, countries, ages, etc. Please send to breezeharper@gmail.com. Remember to include a bio at the end of you contribution, email and phone number.

Citation Style: MLA Bibliography
Document Format: 1” margins; 12 Point Font; Double spaced; Times New Roman
Word Processing Software: MS Word or Apple Pages is an acceptable document format. Please do not send PDFs.

About the editor: Amie Breeze Harper is a PhD student at the University of California, Davis, in the Geography Graduate Group. Her emphasis is understanding how critical race and feminist theories can be used to analyze the African Diasporic female experience within alternative spaces of nutrition and wellness (i.e.: veganism, vegetarianism, raw foodism, community gardens). She is the editor of the upcoming Lantern Books anthology, Sistah Vegan! Food, Identity, Society and Health: Female Vegans of the African Diaspora in the USA and the author the 2008 Arch Street Press novel, Scars.

I look forward to reading your contributions!

Amie Breeze Harper
breezeharper@gmail.com
A. Breeze Harper
breezeharper@gmail.com
(617) 877-2096
Email: breezeharper@gmail.com
Visit the website at http://web.mac.com/sistahvegan98/iWeb/research/Reflections_on_the_N_Word_Anthology.html

Men Speak Out

Well folks,
I'm completing my final semester of undergraduate study! Since I have devoted most of my time to my remaining coursework, here is my belated plug for Men Speak Out.

Amazon:
Editorial Reviews
Book Description

Men Speak Out is a collection of essays written by and about pro-feminist men. In the essays, which feature original, lively, and accessible prose, anti-sexist men make sense of their gendered experiences in todays culture. And since the interrelations between gender, race, class, and sexuality are central to feminism, Men Speak Out prioritizes such issues. These authors tackle the issues of feminism, growing up male, recognizing masculine privilege, taking action to change the imbalance of power and privilege, and the constraints that men experience in confronting sexism. They describe their successes and challenges in bucking patriarchal systems in a culture that can be unsupportive of or downright hostile to a pro-feminist perspective. In these chapters, a diverse group of men reflects on growing up, shares moments in their day-to-day lives, and poses serious questions about being a pro-feminist male living, working, thinking, and learning in a sexist society.

Call for Papers: Black Star's 10th Anniversary

In honor of Black Star’s ten-year anniversary, Proud Flesh is calling for
works that speak to the impact and legacy of their masterpiece album, Mos
Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star, for an upcoming journal
(www.proudfleshjournal.com).

Released in the fall of 1998, Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star
re-energized the b-boy and backpacker face of Hip Hop with a heightened
analytic and deep consciousness of self and community. Taking their name
from Marcus Garvey and the UNIA’s 1920s shipping company (established to
move Black Americans to a Black state located in Liberia), Black Star,
conceptually and sonically, presented a wide and colorful depiction of
Black life and Black identity.
In contrast to much of the mainstream Hip Hop of that period, they
stressed that life should be more about “the struggle” than “the hustle,
”and critiqued viewpoints that conceived of Black culture in only singular
terms. On “Definition,” Mos Def raps: “Manhattan keep on makin it,
Brooklyn keep on takin it, so relax we're takin it back, Redhook where
we're livin at. Plenty cats be struggling not hustlin and bubblin, if it
ain't about production and -- what else we discussin?” Black Star
chronicled Black folks’ ability and tenacity to produce via work,
language, the arts, communal culture, and cultural production.
A decade has passed since the release of this monumental album. More than
a hot album, this thirteen-track masterpiece continues to offer a
theoretical and practical analysis of urban Black culture and politics,
and a grass-roots base of knowledge that is not adequately engaged. By
stating in their album’s introduction that their music was not meant to
“stand still,” the group signaled that their conception of time and space
did not adhere to the linearity of common epistemological standards.

Acknowledging their point that the music cannot and should not stand
still, Proud Flesh is calling on writers, academics, artists, community
activists/organizers, and fans to submit essays, poems, prose,
photography, graphic artwork, etc., detailing how this album has impacted
your work and your life. Included in this are critical analyses of the
album and/or individual songs, works that place the album and/or songs
within a broader context and legacy (historical, political, social,
artistic), and works that speak to the album's continued relevance.

We are asking that all works be submitted by May 1, 2008 to:

blackstarproject@gmail.com

Visit Proud Flesh at http://www.proudfleshjournal.com/
for more information.