#BlackActivism101 – exploring the ways in which we teach and write about herstory

Artist: Calvin Coleman https://www.facebook.com/Calvin-Coleman-International-Fine-Art-Artist-187876151271013/

In 2012, during the aftermath of the murder of Trayvon Martin, the #BlackLivesMatter movement was created and a new wave of organizers replete with strategies of resistance, power, and activism slowly began to push the civil rights movement in a different direction. It has now been three years and the movement has gained traction as it continues to work to dismantle and address issues as varied as white supremacy, state sanctioned poverty and powerlessness, nation supported terrorism against unarmed black citizens, mass incarceration, and the classroom-to-prison pipeline. Additionally, uprisings have taken place across the country from Ferguson to Baltimore. At the same time, there has been a conscious effort to include the voices and stories of women of color and to actively work to #SayHerName. It is in this spirit of solidarity, of a shared commitment to justice, and of calling and chanting the names of our sisters that Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism journal invites you to join us in our exploration of the ways in which we teach, catalogue, remember, and research our herstory through the lens of #BlackActivism101.

This special pedagogical issue is particularly committed to understanding and highlighting the struggles of women of color; the work to dismantle and disarm the system of white supremacy; the oppression of trans- and queer people; and, to focusing on the transdisciplinary work that scholars and researchers, activists and artists, teachers and journalists do everyday working both holistically (in that their work crosses many disciplines giving us a fuller picture of what they learn from the information that they have) and organically (in that as they further investigate the complexity of our/their story continues to develop).

Organized around five main Subject Areas, topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

Section I. What Rosa Taught Me (education as a form of activism)

Section II: What Ida Taught Me (writing as a form of activism)

Section III: What Assata Taught Me (direct resistance as a form of activism)

Section IV: What Angela Taught Me (transnationalism as a form of activism)

Section V: What bell Taught Me (activism—starting at the place where you stand)

Suggested Topics:

Exploring the herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement

The New Jane Crow: the mass incarceration of black and brown women

The body as landscape for protest (from taking off our shirts to climbing flagpoles)

Music as a form of activism

From the classroom to the streets: the increased dropout rates for black and brown girls

From Ferguson to Baltimore: the power of shared pain

The Revolution will be tweeted and more: the power of social media activism

From the Civil Rights Movement to #BlackLivesMatter

Policing the Police: the community responds

From Fannie to now: working for peace, fighting for justice, transforming the system

The submission deadline is January 20, 2016 (extensions granted by approval of the editor) with an expected publication of Summer 2016! Complete packages would consist of a 8-12 page essay grounding the topic and explaining it; a 7-10 page lesson plan with list of print and electronic resources; a one-page bibliography; and, a one-paragraph biography. The editors are very interested in contributors who find ways to work collaboratively using a transdisciplinary approach (which means, finding ways to both connect disciplines and transcend them).

For submission details, see the journal’s http://www.smith.edu/meridians/submit.htm .

Electronic submissions should be sent to:

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, Ph.D.

Guest Editor, meridians

kewhitehead@loyola.edu