Pictured Above: Button produced by the National Student Coalition Against Racism, which was one of the many groups that campaigned to free Joan Little after she was charged with murder for stabbing a prison guard in self defense against sexual assault in 1974. Her case inspired widespread organizing across the United States, which proved critical in producing a context for her eventual acquittal.
The CSW Black Feminism Initiative (BFI) was established in Fall 2019 to honor and encourage black feminist thought and visions for political transformation. BFI supports interdisciplinary research and social engagements that are grounded in black feminist and black queer frameworks of analysis, challenges state and interpersonal violence, considers intramural forms of relation, and engages everyday forms of refusal, black feminist assembly, and collective organizing practice. BFI also highlights questions of social reproduction and reproductive justice, contemporary and historical regimes of captivity and carcerality, and black feminist art and expressive culture.
BFI supports graduate research, a faculty-graduate workshop, and public programming. Current projects include: The Alisa Bierria and Mariame Kaba Graduate Research Fellowships, the Black Feminist Faculty-Graduate Workshop, and public talks and symposia.
The Alisa Bierria Graduate Fellowship in Black Feminist Research and the Mariame Kaba Graduate Fellowship in Black Feminist Research
The Black Feminism Initiative sponsors two graduate fellowships to support current research in black feminism: The Alisa Bierria Graduate Fellowship in Black Feminist Research and the Mariame Kaba Graduate Fellowship in Black Feminist Research. Each $1,000 fellowship supports graduate research, conference travel, or the acquisition of necessary materials for in-progress dissertation or thesis projects. Current UCLA MA and PhD students are eligible to apply.
Applications for Fall 2019 are due on Friday, November 15, 2019.
The Faculty-Graduate Workshop in Black Feminism
This workshop meets each quarter for conversations in black feminism that provide the opportunity for graduate students and faculty to workshop in-progress writing and ideas. The 2019-2020 Faculty-Graduate Workshop in Black Feminism coordinator is Jaimie Crumley, a PhD student in the UCLA Department of Gender Studies.
Jaimie D. Crumley is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Gender Studies. Before coming to UCLA, Jaimie earned her Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees at Yale Divinity School and her Bachelor of Arts degree at Wellesley College. Her work explores the history of the free African American in the antebellum United States through the lens of the black Christian women who preached, taught, wrote, and lectured in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, D.C. and in England. Jaimie argues that these women’s words and work provide a lens for us not only to understand the role of Christian spirituality in shaping freedom for black women, but also to explore the complexities of race, gender, sexuality, and religiosity in the antebellum United States.
The Black Feminism Initiative Public Program
The Black Feminism Initiative Public Program sponsors public talks and events on subjects of pressing political and social concern.
Upcoming Events
Black Feminism, Care, and Reproduction in Urgent Times: A Conversation with Kimberly Durdin, Followed by a Discussion with Ariel Hart
Kimberly Durdin is a birth worker and advocate for reproductive justice for women of color. She is the co-founder of Kindred Space LA, a hub for midwifery care, doula support, lactation consulting, education, support groups, enrichment, meditation, and movement. Durdin will be in dialogue with Ariel Hart, UCLA PhD student in Medicine and Sociology.
Date: Monday, February 10, 2020
Time: TBD
Location: 306 Royce Hall
Event Details
