'I am a woman's rights. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more than that? I am as strong as any man that is now' A former slave and one of the most powerful orators of her time, Sojourner Truth fought for the equal rights of Black women throughout her life. This selection of her impassioned speeches is accompanied by the words of other inspiring African-American female campaigners from the nineteenth century. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

A classic work of feminist scholarship, Ain't I a Woman has become a must-read for all those interested in the nature of black womanhood. Examining the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman's involvement with feminism, hooks attempts to move us beyond racist and sexist assumptions. The result is nothing short of groundbreaking, giving this book a critical place on every feminist scholar's bookshelf.

" Ain't I a Woman : Black Women and Feminism is among America's most influential works. Prolific, outspoken, and fearless."- The Village Voice  "This book is a classic. It . . . should be read by anyone who takes feminism seriously."- Sojourner  "[ Ain't I a Woman ] should be widely read, thoughtfully considered, discussed, and finally acclaimed for the real enlightenment it offers for social change."- Library Journal  "One of the twenty most influential women's books of the last twenty years."- Publishers Weekly  "I met a young sister who was a feminist, and she gave me a book called Ain't I a Woman by a talented, beautiful sister named bell hooks-and it changed my life. It changed my whole perspective of myself as a woman."-Jada Pinkett-Smith  At nineteen, bell hooks began writing the book that forever changed the course of feminist thought. Ain't I a Woman remains a classic analysis of the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the historic devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism within the women's movement, and black women's involvement with feminism.  bell hooks is the author of numerous critically acclaimed and influential books on the politics of race, gender, class, and culture. The Atlantic Monthly celebrates her as one of our nation's leading public intellectuals .

Third wave womanism is a new movement within religious studies with deep roots in the tradition of womanist religious thought—while also departing from it in key ways. After a helpful and orienting introduction, this volume gathers essays from established and emerging scholars whose work is among the most lively and innovative scholarship today. The result is a lively conversation in which 'to question is not to disavow; to depart is not necessarily to reject' and where questioning and departing are indications of the productive growth and expansion of an important academic and religious movement.

Exploration of the assumed roles within families and the community and the burdens placed on slave women.

Female "circumcision" or, more precisely, female genital cutting (FGC), remains an important cultural practice in many African countries, often serving as a coming-of-age ritual. It is also a practice that has generated international dispute and continues to be at the center of debates over women's rights, the limits of cultural pluralism, the balance of power between local cultures, international human rights, and feminist activism. In our increasingly globalized world, these practices have also begun immigrating to other nations, where transnational complexities vex debates about how to resolve the issue. Bringing together thirteen essays, Transcultural Bodies provides an ethnographically rich exploration of FGC among African diasporas in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. Contributors analyze changes in ideologies of gender and sexuality in immigrant communities, the frequent marginalization of African women's voices in debates over FGC, and controversies over legislation restricting the practice in immigrant populations.

Born a slave in New York state around 1797 and given the name Isabella Baumfree, Sojourner Truth soon believed that God wanted her to be a travelling preacher who always spoke the truth. She was sold three times early in her life; her third owner promised

“[Allred] interrogates Beyoncé’s music and videos to explore the complicated spaces where racism, sexism, and capitalism collide.” —Kirkus Reviews In 2010, Professor Kevin Allred created the university course “Politicizing Beyoncé” to both wide acclaim and controversy. He outlines his pedagogical philosophy in Ain’t I a Diva?, exploring what it means to build a syllabus around a celebrity. Topics range from a capitalist critique of “Run the World (Girls)” to the politics of self-care found in “Flawless”; Beyoncé’s art is read alongside black feminist thinkers including Kimberlé Crenshaw, Octavia Butler, and Sojourner Truth. Combining analysis with classroom anecdotes, Allred attests that pop culture is so much more than a guilty pleasure, it’s an access point—for education, entertainment, critical inquiry, and politics. “Proving himself a worthy member of the BeyHive, Kevin Allred takes us on a journey through Beyoncé’s greatest hits and expansive career—peeling back their multiple layers to explore gender, race, sexuality, and power in today’s modern world. A fun, engaging, and important read for long-time Beyoncé fans and newcomers alike.” —Franchesca Ramsey, author of Well, That Escalated Quickly “Ain’t I a Diva? explores the phenomenon of Beyoncé while explicitly championing not only her immense talent and grace but what we can learn from it. In this celebration of Beyoncé, and through her, other Black women, Allred is giving us room to be exactly who we are so that maybe we, too, can stop the world then carry on!” —Keah Brown, author of The Pretty One “A must-read for any fan of Beyoncé and of fascinating feminist discourse.” —Zeba Blay, senior culture writer, HuffPost

Spanning the centuries from Sappho's Greece to tenth-century Japan, from nineteenth-century Chile to Zindziswa Mandela's twentieth-century South Africa, the voices of these women poets express themes of love, injustice, motherhood, and loss, and the oppressions of race and sex. The sequence of the poems moves from youth to old age, and they bear witness to the triumphs as well as the pain and frustration of women in many times and in many places. Among the many poets whose work is included are Anna Akhmatova, Maya Angelou, Judith Kazantzis, Gabriela Mistral, Marge Piercy, Irina Ratushinskaya and Alice Walker. Illona Linthwaite began gathering this collection several years ago, initially for a theatrical performance. Here, in this unique exchange between women of many races, affirming their differences and what they have in common, are more than 150 poems which assert the black abolitionist Sojourner Truth's challenge, "Ain't I a Woman!" In addition to the poems, there are biographies of the 91 contributors.

An examination of the politics of racism and sexism from a feminist perspective, looking at the impact of sexism on African-American women during slavery, the devaluation of African-American womanhood, African-American male sexism, racism within the modern feminist movement, and the African-American woman's involvement in feminism and its experience and relationship to society.