In "After Mecca," Cheryl Clarke explores the relationship between the Black Arts Movement and black women writers of the period. Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, Ntozake Shange, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Alice Walker, and others chart the emergence of a new and distinct black poetry and its relationship to the black community's struggle for rights and liberation. Clarke also traces the contributions of these poets to the development of feminism and lesbian-feminism, and the legacy they left for others to build on.

The fiftieth anniversary edition of the essay that is now recognized as the first major work of feminist art theory—published together with author Linda Nochlin’s reflections three decades later. Many scholars have called Linda Nochlin’s seminal essay on women artists the first real attempt at a feminist history of art. In her revolutionary essay, Nochlin refused to answer the question of why there had been no “great women artists” on its own corrupted terms, and instead, she dismantled the very concept of greatness, unraveling the basic assumptions that created the male-centric genius in art. With unparalleled insight and wit, Nochlin questioned the acceptance of a white male viewpoint in art history. And future freedom, as she saw it, requires women to leap into the unknown and risk demolishing the art world’s institutions in order to rebuild them anew. In this stand-alone anniversary edition, Nochlin’s essay is published alongside its reappraisal, “Thirty Years After.” Written in an era of thriving feminist theory, as well as queer theory, race, and postcolonial studies, “Thirty Years After” is a striking reflection on the emergence of a whole new canon. With reference to Joan Mitchell, Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, and many more, Nochlin diagnoses the state of women and art with unmatched precision and verve. “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” has become a slogan and rallying cry that resonates across culture and society. In the 2020s, Nochlin’s message could not be more urgent: as she put it in 2015, “There is still a long way to go.”

The purpose of this report is to examine the population of artists in terms of age, sex, and earnings and to compare the results from 1970 and 1976. An artist in this report includes people in the following categories: actors, architects, dancers, designers, musicians and composers, painters and sculptors, photographers, and radio and television announcers. Highlights of the analysis report that the number of artists increased 50% from 1970 to 1976, from 600,000 to 900,000, but that median earnings remained the same at $7,900. The lack of increase in earnings is explained by the 50% increase in artists, while positions for artists increased by only 23%. The number of women in artistic occupations increased by 80% while males in artistic occupations increased by half that amount. In 1970 artists' personal earnings contributed 62% of their household earnings, by 1976 the contribution had fallen to 44%. Women were more dependent on other household members than men were and accounted for only a quarter of the total household income in 1970 and 1976. These data suggest that while artists' personal earnings are relatively low, artists tend to be members of households which compare closely with total household earnings of all professionals. Although artists' median personal earnings did not increase between 1970 and 1976, the total household earnings rose by 40% during this period. The artists' population is composed of relatively young people and is predominantly male. From 1970 to 1976 the population became younger and the proportion of women artists increased. The mid-decade observation period was marked by a recession in which the rate of artistic unemployment increased more than all professional workers. The difference reflects the increased proportion of young people, women, and blacks in artistic occupations, because unemployment rates are generally higher for these groups. Over 40 tables and figures display and support the findings. (APG)

From one of our most important scholars and civil rights activist icon, a powerful study of the women’s liberation movement and the tangled knot of oppression facing Black women. “Angela Davis is herself a woman of undeniable courage. She should be heard.”—The New York Times Angela Davis provides a powerful history of the social and political influence of whiteness and elitism in feminism, from abolitionist days to the present, and demonstrates how the racist and classist biases of its leaders inevitably hampered any collective ambitions. While Black women were aided by some activists like Sarah and Angelina Grimke and the suffrage cause found unwavering support in Frederick Douglass, many women played on the fears of white supremacists for political gain rather than take an intersectional approach to liberation. Here, Davis not only contextualizes the legacy and pitfalls of civil and women’s rights activists, but also discusses Communist women, the murder of Emmitt Till, and Margaret Sanger’s racism. Davis shows readers how the inequalities between Black and white women influence the contemporary issues of rape, reproductive freedom, housework and child care in this bold and indispensable work.