Session Abstract

Black internationalism, a global racial consciousness and commitment to universal emancipation, has informed black men's and women’s politics since the Age of Revolution in the late 1700s. Scholars Marc S. Gallicchio, Michael O. West, Penny von Eschen, and others have situated internationalism as a central feature of the black experience, highlighting African Americans’ widespread efforts to end the “global color line.” Expanding this earlier scholarship, this panel examines the gendered contours of black internationalism and explores the myriad ways women articulated black internationalism during the twentieth century. Highlighting the writings, speeches, performances, activism, and overseas travel of a diverse group of female actors, this panel moves women from the margins to the center of the black internationalist story, and offers a broader discussion of black internationalism theoretically, spatially and temporally. Employing a variety of research methodologies and drawing on scholarship in a range of fields—including feminist theory, performance studies, and cultural studies—the four papers foreground black women’s voices and reveal the importance of women in shaping black internationalist discourse(s) in the United States and beyond. Brandon R. Byrd (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) will examine African American women’s engagement with U.S. Occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. Drawing on the scholarship in Political Science, Latin American Studies, and African American Studies, Byrd’s paper captures the complex and contradictory nature of African American women’s internationalist activism during this period. Zakiya R. Adair (University of Missouri) will discuss the varied experiences and performative strategies of African American women in trans-Atlantic expressive culture during the first half of the twentieth century.  Highlighting several African American women performers such as Josephine Baker, Ada “Bricktop” Smith, and Adelaide Hall, Adair offers a black feminist critique of black internationalism and situates African American women as key players in the discourse on black transnational culture. Nicholas Grant (University of East Anglia) shifts focus to the post-World War II period, examining the political work of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in South Africa. Drawing on an array of primary sources from archives in the United States and South Africa, Grant’s paper reveals how African American women used maternalist ideas to develop a series of mutual concerns with black women in Africa. Finally, Brandy Thomas Wells (Ohio State University) will draw on the fields of Sociology, Political Science, and Business Studies to offer a multidimensional perspective of how members of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) engaged in global politics during the Cold War period. Charting their political and philanthropic activities in Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean, Wells’ paper shows how the NCNW attempted to bolster their political power on the international scene. As commentator, Tiffany M. Gill (University of Delaware) will draw upon her extensive research and expertise on African American History, Women’s History, the history of black entrepreneurship, fashion and beauty studies, and travel and migration throughout the African Diaspora.