“The Language of Freedom”: Black Nationalist Women, Pan-Africanist Discourses, and Diasporic Politics

This paper explores black nationalist women’s engagement in anticolonial and diasporic politics during the 1930s and 1940s. It offers a critical analysis of these women’s writings in an array of global black newspapers of the period including the New Negro World, the Ethiopian World, and the African: Journal of African Affairs. The paper reveals how a diverse group of black nationalist women activists and intellectuals, from various socioeconomic backgrounds and writing from various locales, promoted a global black liberationist vision and added distinctive voices to discourses surrounding Pan-Africanism—the political belief that African peoples, on the continent and in the Diaspora, share a common past and destiny. Maintaining cultural and racial bonds with Africans throughout the Diaspora, these women skillfully used the Black Press—on local, national, and international levels—to endorse anticolonial politics, challenge global white supremacy, and counter negative images and stereotypical depictions of African history and culture. Yet, while committed to that mission, these women also embraced imperialist and civilizationist views that promoted some of the same ideals they rejected. Examining the largely overlooked writings of black nationalist women in the United States, the Caribbean, and other parts of the globe captures the richness and complexities of global black politics during the twentieth century.