101 p., Little published research describes views of intimate heterosexual relationships among non-Western samples of women. This study represents a first attempt to document Afro-Caribbean women's views about their intimate relationships. A small sample of 53 Afro-Caribbean women from the island of Barbados were interviewed in their homes for a larger study of body image. Included in the measures were questionnaires about the extent to which women's expectations were or were not met in their current heterosexual relationships and if symptoms of depression were experienced. The women in this study generally reported, like Western women, that their relationships met their expectations (whatever those expectations may have been), that they contributed more positive than negative behaviors to the relationship, and that they experienced mostly mild or infrequent depressive symptoms. Unlike findings for Western samples, however, neither relationship duration, women's level of education, nor the extent to which they reported depressive symptoms covaried with whether they reported that their expectations were met or not. In summary, this study did not shed light on possible sources of Afro-Caribbean women's relationship satisfaction, although it potentially ruled out a few.
"Was talking about how we keep our creativity flowing with a group of friends around a kitchen table last winter. Visiting friends from Sri Lanka mentioned that they organise regular readings to encourage themselves to write fresh work and connect with likeminded types. Very ol' skool approach. WRITE ON! was born that nite," says Akhaji Zakiya, the founder, producer and host of the series. "We'll also have an open mic part of the showcase and a panel discussion exploring how we can support Black queer art and culture. We've also commissioned a special spoken word piece, #IAmAnAfrican, by co-host Naomi Abiola to celebrate our achievements," she said. The other cohost of the evening is triple threat Twysted. With a repertoire that is expanding to include short stories and plays about women loving, [Zakiya]'s work has appeared in several publications, including "The Great Black North - Contemporary African Canadian Poetry" (Frontenac, 2013) and "Does Your Mama Know? - An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories" (Red Bone Press, 1997).
Examines death and barrenness images prevalent in literature produced by black women during the 1970s and 1980s, taking for study the novels Bluest Eye (1970), Praisesong for the Widow (1983), Corregidora (1975), and Mama Day (1988). Argues that images in these narratives represent contemporary manifestations of social death that directly relate to what belief in the American dream, and that these images symbolize the ways in which decisions made had a deadening effect on black communities, primarily experienced as a loss of social sensibility and vitality of relationships.
Gaspar,David Barry (Author) and Hine,Darlene Clark (Author)
Format:
Book, Whole
Publication Date:
1996
Published:
Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
341 p, Includes Mary Karasch's "Slave women on the Brazilian frontier in the nineteenth century," Hilary Beckles' "Black female slaves and white households in Barbados," Robert W. Slenes' "Black homes, white homilies: perceptions of the slave family and of slave women in nineteenth-century Brazil," Barbara Bush's "Hard labor : women, childbirth, and resistance in British Caribbean slave societies," David Barry Gaspar's "From 'the sense of their slavery' : slave women and resistance in Antigua, 1632-1763," Bernard Moitt's "Slave women and resistance in the French Caribbean,"David P. Geggus' "Slave and free colored women in Saint Domingue," and Susan M. Socolow's "Economic roles of the free women of color of Cap Francais."
295 p., Focuses on the function of black vernacular myths and rituals in three primary women's texts of the Americas: Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon (1977), Simone Schwartz-Bart's Pluie et Vent sur Telumee Miracle (1972) and Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow (1983). My project codifies how the black vernacular expressions of mythology and ritual are used to negotiate power between the individual and their community. The author traces how the women in these texts used resources of the black vernacular tradition as social and cultural collateral to empower themselves within an alternative system of values that simultaneously validates self and communal worth.
