Hip-Hop Feminism and the Angry Black Woman

by Jelisa S. Clark

This video explores hip-hop feminism as a tool to promote social justice, specifically regarding Black women who are often stereotyped as angry. I discuss the social, political, and historical context surrounding this stereotype and identify, define, and apply hip-hop feminism as a tool to resist and challenge it.

References

Annamma, Subini Ancy, Yolanda Anyon, Nicole M. Joseph, Jordan Farrar, Eldridge Greer, Barbara Downing, and John Simmons. 2019. “Black Girls and School Discipline: The Complexities of Being Overrepresented and Understudied.” Urban Education 54, no. 2 (February): 211–42.

Carmichael, Rodney. 2019. “With ‘Eve,’ Rapsody Wields the Legacies of Legendary Black Women, from Nina to Serena.” NPR Music, August 9.

Collins, Patricia Hill. 2009 (2000). Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Routledge Classics ed. New York: Routledge.

Durham, Aisha, Brittney C. Cooper, and Susana M. Morris. 2013. “The Stage Hip-Hop Feminism Built: A New Directions Essay.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 38, no. 3 (Spring): 721-37.

Harris-Perry, Melissa V. 2011. Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Lindsey, Treva B. 2015 “Let Me Blow Your Mind: Hip Hop Feminist Futures in Theory and Praxis.” Urban Education 50, no. 1 (January): 52-77.

Motro, Daphna, Jonathan B. Evans, Aleksander P. J. Ellis, and Lehman Benson III. 2022. “Race and Reactions to Women’s Expressions of Anger at Work: Examining the Effects of the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Stereotype." Journal of Applied Psychology 107, no. 1 (January): 142-52.

Pilgrim, David. 2012. “The Sapphire Caricature.” Big Rapids, MI: Jim Crow Museum.

Rapsody. 2019. Eve. Roc Nation.

Set It Off. 1996. Directed by F. Gary Gray. Burbank, CA: New Line Cinema. 123 minutes.

West, Carolyn M. 1995. “Mammy, Sapphire, and Jezebel: Historical Images of Black Women and Their Implications for Psychotherapy.” Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training 32, no. 3: 458-66.

Dr. Jelisa S. Clark is an assistant professor of sociology at Fayetteville State University. Her research and teaching are focused on the education and well-being of Black youth, with an emphasis on anti-Blackness at the intersection of race and gender. She is committed to understanding and contributing to Black humanity and liberation.