Africana Womanism in Osonye Tess Onwueme’s Tell It to Women: An Epic Drama for Women

This article examines the resistance of an African woman to patriarchy in the Setswana novel, Bogosi Kupe. To illustrate this resistance, it analyzes a woman protagonist, Matlhodi, in this Setswana novel. The article contends that Matlhodi employs self-defining and authentic stratagems to counteract both patriarchal hegemony, and familial, cultural, and ideological hegemony. Employing Africana womanism and Africana critical theory, it argues that Matlhodi deploys her body, her clandestine love affair, her pregnancy, and her husband’s death as weapons to resist the patriarchal ethos foisted on her by her family.

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Womanism and Domestic Violence

Encyclopedia of Social Work ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1073 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Selena T. Rodgers

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Black Women ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Africana Womanism ◽

Women Intellectuals ◽

The Social ◽

Laws And Policies ◽

Control Wheel

Domestic violence is a public health problem shown to inflict severe mental and physical injury on millions of individuals and has considerable social costs. Absent from the literature is an examination of womanism ideologies, which provide a greater understanding of the full praxis that black women who experience domestic violence engage. Drawing from initial conceptualizations of womanism and later contributions of Africana womanism, this article brings into focus pervasive acts of violence perpetrated against black women, their racial loyalty to protect black men, and the limitations of existing domestic violence models and interventions. This entry addresses how these three interconnected areas are treated within the conceptual framework of womanism. An overview of violence against black women reveals the historical and contemporary forms of knowledge and praxis that have sought to overcome the social problem of intimate partner abuse, including the social construction of controlling images and the Power and Control Wheel (The Duluth Model). This entry also examines the prevalence of violence perpetrated against black women and compounding factors. In addition, this author considers the Violence Against Women Act and its consequences on laws and policies that affect the race, gender, and class experiences of black women coping with domestic violence. Also analyzed is the quintessential role of demographics, the culture of domestic violence, and international debates about womanism, including how black women intellectuals are prioritizing race-empowerment perspectives and a reference point to articulate healthy black relationships are prioritized. The article also reviews social work practice with black women victims/survivors of domestic violence and their families.

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