So what black folks are outraged about is that the public sphere is not a sphere that is particularly hospitable to black men. You know, we have this thing in feminist theory where we say, The public sphere is traditionally the sphere of men and the private sphere is traditionally the sphere of women and, of course, we mean white men and white women. It seems like black women’s stories are erased in the public sphere but also in the private sphere … And she’s attacked in her house, sleeping. So it is that moment where the culture cannot abide the killing of a black man in that way but the culture can abide it when it’s a black woman being killed by police. I said, Look, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic and George Floyd got killed, and people said, We will not stand for this, so we will risk it all in the streets, multiple days - and at this point, multiple weeks - of massive protest, doing the one thing that we’re told will get you sick. Some folks said to me, Look, we were in the middle of a pandemic and that’s why there wasn’t a protest, not that there wasn’t outrage. What did you mean by that?īlack women are not the folks who are the first thought ever when it comes to black protest movements. You used the term “secondary outrage” to describe the reaction to her death. You recently wrote an op-ed for Time questioning why the death of Breonna Taylor, who was killed on March 13, didn’t ignite national protests immediately.
There’s very little investment in recognizing that black women are the sort of deep thinkers and theorists about how you actually build a society for the common good. That’s not a thing that has just emerged in the middle of a pandemic. You also see them behaving politically in ways that are designed to build and restore public institutions, so that it can support more citizens. But you don’t just see black women in the street protesting. The public narrative is about black women and girls continuing to express their collective outrage about the killing of black men. In light of the past month, how are you thinking about the future of black women and girls? The interview has been shortened and edited for clarity. Cooper, an associate professor of women’s and gender studies and Africana studies at Rutgers University, about the shared anger of black women and why that power needs to be harnessed right now. Cooper’s writing - how anger can be a rational, revolutionary principle - has proved resonant in recent weeks amid nationwide protests against police brutality, discussions of systemic inequality and black Americans dying from Covid-19 at alarming rates.Ī few days before Juneteenth, I spoke with Dr. Cooper writes in “Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower.”
“The clarity that comes from rage should also tell us what kind of world we want to see, not just what kind of things we want to get rid of,” Dr. When Serena Williams was penalized for “verbal abuse” of an umpire in 2018, there was repudiation of the stereotype again.īut Brittney Cooper, a scholar and activist, has urged black women to reclaim the label rather than reject it entirely. Shonda Rhimes, the Hollywood showrunner, has fought back against the label too. Michelle Obama has spoken about distancing herself from the trope. The “angry black woman” stereotype has been picked apart and widely condemned in recent years. Office of the Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity & Equityįind more Community MLK Celebration events at .“The critical mass we’ve seen suggests something is shifting in the ether.” Brittney Cooper, author of “Eloquent Rage.” Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights Power, Violence and Inequality Collective Thank you to all of the UVA offices whose support makes this event possible! Please share this event! Print and post the flyer or share our Facebook event. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower is her third book.Įloquent Rage was listed as a Best Book of 2018 by The New York Public Library, Mashable, The Atlantic, Bustle, The Root, NPR, and Fast Company. “I was waiting for an author who wouldn’t forget, ignore, or erase us black girls as they told their own story and that of the race and the nation. She has come-in Brittney Cooper.”īrittney Cooper is an assistant professor in the Departments of Women and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers.
Pre-event reception: 6-6:30pm - Lecture at 6:30pm
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