Organized by Karsonya Wise Whitehead*Alicia Moore*Regina Lewis

A MOMENT OF RECKONING

(Making Herstory, One Step at a Time)

     In 1969, in her senior commencement address at Wellesley College, Hillary Rodham (in a fiery speech that catapulted her to the national spotlight) argued that “…for too long, our leaders have viewed politics as the art of the possible, and the challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible.” Words that she once applied, with a disdain toward traditional backroom politicians, can now be applied to her and to the Clinton Dynasty. Married in 1975, in a small and simple ceremony, Hillary and William Jefferson Clinton have been a part of the collective American story for the past 40 years—from Arkansas politics to the White House, from the Senate to the United Nations, from Monica Lewinsky to 30,000 erased e-mails. They have survived, despite scandals and secrets, illegal activity and adultery. They are a dynastic power couple whose lives are so intertwined, that for some, it is difficult to tell where his ideas and morals end and hers begin. This type of shared wedding band power, from the bedroom to the boardroom, did not begin with the Clintons and does not only take place within politics.* It is a part of the way in which America—as a nation that privileges whiteness, heterosexual marriage, money, and power—was formed and developed. In 2007, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as the first former first lady to ever be elected to public office, mounted a campaign to receive the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Though she garnered 18 million votes, she lost the Democratic Primary to, then Senator, Barack Obama, who went on to win the 2008 Presidential race. After serving as his Secretary of State (becoming only the third woman after Madeleine Albright and Condoleeza Rice to serve) from 2009-2013, Clinton once again mounted a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. In July of 2016, she successfully secured the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, becoming the first woman in modern history to do so. In her acceptance speech, she noted that, “America is once again at a moment of reckoning.”

     For us (as scholars, as feminists, as American citizens), we see this “moment of reckoning” as one that is fraught with racism, sexism, misogyny, intolerance, and bigotry on a level that is reminiscent of the Jim Crow era. Within our classrooms, we have found that our students have multiple questions—about Hillary and her legacy, about this moment in time, about misogyny, and, about what this campaign season has revealed about the current state of race and gender politics in this country. Looking to understand both the aforementioned sociopolitical intersections (using Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality to do so) and the ism-laden hallmarks of this political season, we concluded that a Black feminist framework embedded in critical social theory would be the best platform for students to use to gain a nuanced understanding of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her political trajectory. To provide this platform, as Patricia Hill Collins theorized, “U.S. Black feminism has been filtered through the prism of the U.S. context, [and] its contours have been greatly affected by the specificity of American multiculturalism” (Takaki 1993 in Hill Collins, 2000, p. 23), a perspective that varies from the dominant canon of political thought.

     Given that both The Chronicle of Higher Education and Public Books released a Trump Syllabus, we believe that as students are examining the Trump phenomenon, they should also be given an opportunity (and be encouraged) to take a closer look at Clinton’s political career. In putting this syllabus together, the organizers were assisted by teachers and students across the country who wrestled with the questions of how we should teach about Clinton and how we should frame the discussion.** With their input and suggestions, this syllabus includes themes and resources (articles, books, movies, Opinion Editorials, video clips, and websites) that span the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton from Wellesley, 1969 to her campaign for the White House, 2016. It is our hope that the syllabus will be used as a lens through which teachers and their students can view, discuss, and eventually enter into this larger political and social conversation. This syllabus is offered only as a way to begin the discussion, as every resource about the Clintons is not included and the Clinton story is far from over. It is organized into three Units—The Clinton Dynasty; A Calculated Slow Rise to Power; and, Feminism, Sisterhood, & Color Politics—over a twelve-week period that begins with pre-reading material designed for teachers to gain a full understanding of the black feminist lens. We invite teachers to take this material and use it to develop their own lesson plans, discussion points, lecture notes, assessment activities and to then share them with us so that we can continue to add resources to the database.

*Materials may be e-mailed to any of the organizers with the subject line #ClintonSyllabus: Dr. Whitehead at griotonthego@gmail.com; Dr. Moore at Alicia.lorraine@gmail.com; and Dr. Lewis at reginaspeaking@mac.com.

PRE-READINGS

Using a Black Feminist Lens to Read, Deconstruct, Understand, & Explain HRC

     Patricia Hill Collins, in her seminal work, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, developed a critical social (and political) theory to be utilized by Black women in the United States (US). In the context of the historical racial oppression faced by these women, Collins saw the value in developing a theory that afforded them the opportunity to resist this oppression. As well, she realized that the thoughts and experiences of Black women warranted a lens through which they could use this theory to interpret the world that afforded them value while in a familiar and safe space – a decidedly different space. Collins reminded readers that “[w]ithin U.S. culture, racist and sexist ideologies permeate the social structure to such a degree that they become hegemonic, namely, seen as natural, normal, and inevitable” (p. 5). With this in mind, the organizers of this syllabus deliberately set out to use a Black feminist framework through which to teach and examine the life and legacy of Hillary Clinton. This framework, using this critical social theory, is significant because “its validity lies in its commitment to justice, both for U.S. Black women as a collectivity and for that of other similarly oppressed groups,” (p. 9) including White women. At the beginning of the syllabus, we have included a list of resources that can be used as pre-readings to properly frame the upcoming discussions.

SYLLABUS OVERVIEW

Unit One: The Clinton Dynasty

Week One From Rodham to Clinton

Week Two: Establishing the new Jim and Jane Crow

Unit Two: A Calculated Slow Rise to Power

Week Three: The Senate as a Slow-Step to Power, 2001-2009

Week Four: Becoming the Voice of America, 2009-2013

Week Five: Foreign Policy Decisions, Missteps, & Mistakes

Week Six: The Shadow of Benghazi

Week Seven: The Childcare Agenda

Week Eight: WikiLeaks, Emails, & A Lack of Security

Unit Three: Feminism, Sisterhood, & Color Politics

Week Nine: From Woodhull to Clinton: Women and the Presidency

Week Ten: Feminism: The Radical Notion that Women are People (Too)

Week Eleven: The Personal is (Always) Political

Week Twelve: Navigating a World Where #BlackLivesMatter

UNIT ONE: THE CLINTON DYNASTY

PRE-READINGS

I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change.
I am changing the things I cannot accept. ~ Angela Davis

Articles

Ta-Nehisi Coates, June, 2014.  The Case for Reparations, The Atlantic. 

Books

James Baldwin, Go Tell It On The Mountain (Dell Publishing, 1952).

Benjamin P. Bowser and Raymond G. Hunt, Impacts of Racism on White Americans (SAGE Publications, 1996).

Angela Y. Davis, Women, Race and Class (Navayana Publishing, 2011).

Frances E. Kendall, Understanding White Privilege (Taylor & Francis Group, 2006).

John Hope Franklin and Isidore Starr, The Negro in 20^th Century America (Random House Inc., 1967).

Thomas K. Nakayama and Judith N. Martin, Whiteness (SAGE Publications, 1999).

Steven Hah, A Nation Under Our Feet (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003).

Ethelbert Miller, In Search of Color Everywhere (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, Inc.,1994).

Toni Morrison, Race-ing, Justice, En-gendering Power (Pantheon Books, 1992).

Toni Morrison, Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (Vintage; Reprint edition, 1993).

Kenneth Ran, Herman Arthur, Richard Kobliner, Harvey Goldenberg, and Rubin Maloff, The History of Black Americans (United Federation of Teachers, 1972).

Patricia J. Williams, The Alchemy of Race and Rights (Harvard University Press, 1991).

Richard Wright, 12 Million Black Voices (Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1941).

 

WEEK ONE:

FROM RODHAM TO CLINTON

“Health is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased.” ~Shirley Chisholm

In Her Own Words

Hillary Rodham’s 1969 Commencement Address, CBSNews, November 3, 2007. (Text)

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s student speech, Wellesley College, June 3, 2016. (Audio)

Articles

Derek Bok, 1998. The Great Health Care Debate of 1993-94, Public Talk: online journal of discourse leadership.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, April 18, 2004. Now Can We Talk About Health Care?, The New York Times.

Adam Clymer, Robert Pear, and Robin Toner, August 29, 1994. The Health Care Debate: What Went Wrong? How the Health Care Campaign Collapsed — A special report.; For Health Care, Times Was A Killer, The New York Times.

Susan Cornwell, June 6, 2016. From Hillarycare’ debacle in 1990s, Clinton emerged more cautious, Reuters.

Thomas L. Friedman, January 26, 1993. Hillary Clinton to Head panel On Health Care, The New York Times.

Henry Louis Gates, February 26, 1996, Hating Hillary, The New Yorker.

Alex Gladu, February 11. What is Hillarycare? Clinton’s Universal Healthcare Plan Wasn’t Exactly What she Claims It To Be, Bustle.

Frank Marafiote, June 23, 1993. Hillary’s First Speech About Health Care Reform, Hillary Clinton Quarterly.

Paul Starr, September 13, 2007. The Hillarycare Mythology, The American Prospect.

Farah Stockman, April 18, 2016. On Crime Bill and the Clintons, Young Blacks Clash With Parents,” The New York Times.

Books

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hard choices (Simon and Schuster, 2014).

Wendell Potter, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans (Bloomsbury Press, 2011).

Videos

Ballotpedia, 2016. Hillarycare: The Proposed Health Security Act of 1993.

MCAmericanPresident, 2008. President Bill Clinton – Address on Health Care Reform.

Tim Haines, 2016. Clinton: Before It Was Called Obamacare, It Was Called Hillarycare, Real Clear Politics.

The History Rat, 2013. Bill Clinton’s 1993 Attempt at Health Care Reform: Almost Sinking A Presidency.

Sahil Kapur, 2016. How ‘Hillarycare’ Did, and Didn’t, Lead to Obamacare, Bloomberg.

ObamaCare Facts, September 5, 2014. What is HillaryCare?

Websites

Robert E. Moffit, 1993. A Guide to the Clinton Health Plan, The Heritage Foundation.

Republican National Committee, 2014. HillaryCare: 20 Years Later.

Anthony Wilson, 2016. Why ‘HillaryCare’ Failed and ‘ObamaCare’ Succeeded, American Health Line.

WEEK TWO:

ESTABLISHING THE new JIM AND JANE CROW

As a society, our decision to heap shame and contempt upon those who struggle and fail in a system designed to keep them locked up and locked out say far more about ourselves than it does about them. ~ Michelle Alexander

Articles

Michelle Alexander, February 10, 2016. Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote, The Nation.

Rachel Herzing. What is the Prison Industrial Complex?, Political Research Associates, n.d.

Angela Davis. Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex, History is a Weapon, n.d.

Samantha Lachman, August 19, 2015. Hillary Clinton Continues to Distance Herself from Her Husband’s Crime Policies, Huffington Post U.S. Edition.

Vicky Pelaez, August 28, 2016. The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery, Global Research.

Aviva Shen, March 6, 2016. Hillary Clinton Says She Agrees Her Role in Mass Incarceration was a Mistake, ThinkProgress.

Eric Schlosser, December, 1998. The Prison-Industrial Complex, The Atlantic.

Jacob Sullum, April 30, 2015. Why Hillary Clinton Lacks Credibility On Criminal Justice Reform, Forbes.

Movie

Cracking The Codes: The System of Racial Inequity, Directed by Shakti Butler, (World Trust, 2013).

Opinion Editorial

BBC News, July 16, 2015. Bill Clinton Regrets ‘Three Strikes’ Bill.

Videos

Will Cabaniss, August 25, 2015. Black Lives Matter Activist Says ‘the Clintons’ Passed Policy That Led to Mass Incarceration, Politifact.

Meghan Keneally, April 11, 2016. What’s Inside the Controversial 1994 Crime Bill That’s Plaguing Hillary Clinton on the Campaign Trail, ABC News Network.

Samantha Lachman, August 19, 2015. Hillary Clinton Continues to Distance Herself from Her Husband’s Crime Policies, Huffington Post U.S. Edition.

Website

Joann Harris. Sentencing Enhancement, Department of Justice, Office of U.S. States Attorney, n.d.

UNIT TWO: A CALCULATED SLOW RISE TO POWER

PRE-READINGS

Camille O. Cosby & Renee Poussaint, A Wealth of Wisdom (Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2004).

W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (Dover Publications, Inc., 1994).

John Hope Franklin, The Color Line (University of Missouri Press, 1993).

Dick Gregory, Nigger (Buccaneer Books, 1964).

bell hooks, Where We Stand: Class Matters (Routledge, 2000).

Benjamin Quarles, The Negro In The Making (Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1987).

Audre Lorde, The Cancer Journals (Aunt Lute Books, 1980).

Gordon Parks, Born Black (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1971).

Elliot Rudwick, W.E.B Du Bois (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982).

Kathleen Thompson. Hilary Mac Austin, and Darlene Clark Hine, The Face of Our Past (Indiana University Press, 1999).

WEEK THREE:

THE SENATE AS A SLOW-STEP TO POWER, 2001-2009

(DID THE BIG APPLE FALL FAR FROM THE POLICY TREE?)

We call ourselves public servants but I’ll tell you this: we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. ~Barbara  Jordan

Articles

Hillary Clinton’s achievements as a U.S. Senator, Correct the Record, n.d..

C Eugene Emery, Jr., January 20, 2016. Spot Check of Hillary Clinton’s Senate Record Fails to Support Bipartisanship Claim, Politifact.

Alex Garofalo, 2016. What Did Hillary Clinton Do For New York? Senate Accomplishments, Voting Record Slammed By Donald Trump,” IBT.

Jerry Markon, 2016. As senator, Clinton promised 200,000 jobs in Upstate New York. Her efforts fell flat, Washington Post.

Michael Sainato 2016. New York Has Done More for Hillary Than She Has for New Yorkers, Observer.

Douglas E. Schoen, 2015. Eleven accomplishments Hillary Clinton should be touting on the campaign trail, Fox News.

Gail Sheehy, 2007. When Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani Did Battle for a Senate Seat, Vanity Fair.

Amy Sherman, 2015. Did Hillary Clinton have her name on only three laws in eight years as Jeb Bush says?, Politifact.

Coco Soodek, 2016. Confession of A Fox News Flunky: Hillary Clinton Was A Great, Progressive Senator, The Huffington Post.

Video Clips

CNN, July 22, 2016. Hillary Clinton on Becoming a Senator (2000 Interview).

Seeker Daily, October 15, 2015. Why Is Hillary Clinton Blamed For The Benghazi Attack?

NBC News, 2016. Hillary Clinton As Senator | Flashback | NBC News.

WEEK FOUR:

BECOMING THE VOICE OF AMERICA, 2009-2013

(PROMOTING NATIONAL SECURITY OR SECURITY OBSCURITY?)

We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong,
just as well-funded.~ Barack Obama

Articles

CNN’s Reality Check Team, September 25, 2016. Hillary Clinton on Foreign Policy: CNN’s Reality Check Vets the Claims, CNN Politics.

Maya Kosoff, June 14, 2016. Clinton Calls on Tech Companies to Fight Isis Propaganda, Vanity Fair.

MJ Lee and Dan Merida, September 9, 2016. Clinton Plays Role of Commander in Chief, CNN. Cable News Network.

James Traub. The Hillary Clinton Doctrine, Foreign Policy, n.d.

Miriam Valverde, September 27, 2016. Trump: Clinton Would Bring in 620,000 Refugees in First Term, Politifact.

Charles S. Faddis, October 30, 2016. Hillary’s emails matter: A retired CIA officer explains why, The Hill.

Video Clips

Hannah Fraser Chanpong, November 17, 2015. Election 2016: In Dallas Hillary Clinton Weighs in on Syrian Refugee Crisis, after Paris Attacks, CBS News.

Ken Dilanian, September 26, 2016. How Clinton Would Differ from Obama as President on Foreign Policy, NBC News.

C-SPAN, June 2016. Hillary Clinton Lays Out National Security Priorities.

WEEK FIVE:

FOREIGN POLICY DECISIONS, MISSTEPS, & MISTAKES

(PUSHING AGAINST A POLICY OF “WESTWARD” EXPANSION”)

What would happen if our foreign policy centered on the cultivation of joy rather than of pain? ~ Alice Walker

Articles

Madeleine Bunting, January 16, 2011. Clinton is proving that a feminist foreign policy is possible, The Guardian.

Bruce Fein, October 28, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s Foreign Policy: Doing Stupid Stuff, The Huffington Post.

Gabriel Kolko, 1970. The Roots of American Foreign Policy: An Analysis of Power and Purpose, Pakistan Institute of International Affairs.

Nancy LeTourneau, April 28, 2016. Playing the Woman Card on Foreign Policy, Washington Monthly.

Wayne Madsen, January 10, 2016. The Racist Foreign Policies of Obama and Hillary Clinton, Strategic Culture Foundation.

Frank Newport, May 15, 2015. Race Relations Outscores Foreign Policy as Clinton Strength, Gallup.

Suzanne Nossel, April, 2016. A Feminist Foreign Policy, ForeignAffairs.

Marie O’Reilly, October 28, 2016. Feminist foreign policies are gaining popularity, and increasing the peace, WUNC.org.

Katie Reilly, June 2, 2016. Read Hillary Clinton’s Speech on Trump and National Security, Time.

Evan Thomas, May 4, 2016. Why We Need a Foreign Policy Elite, The New York Times.

Opinion Editorials

Hillary R. Clinton, October 11, 2011. America’s Pacific Century, FP.

Judith Miller and Douglas E. Schoen, June 3, 2016. On Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton Leans More to the Right than Donald Trump, FoxNews Opinion.

Video Clips

The Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2016. Clinton vs. Trump on Foreign-Policy Issues.

WEEK SIX:

THE SHADOW OF BENGHAZI

(SCANDALS & LIES; HALF-TRUTHS & VIDEOS)

 I don’t measure America by its achievement but by its potential. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Articles

Eric Bradner, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s email controversy, explained, CNN Politics.

David A. Graham, October 28, 2016. From Whitewater to Benghazi: A Clinton-Scandal Primer, The Atlantic.

David M. Herszenhorn, June 28, 2016. House Benghazi Report Finds No New Evidence of Wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton, The New York Times.

Glenn Kessler, October 30, 2015. Is Hillary Clinton a ‘liar’ on Benghazi?, The Washington Post.

Mark Landler, May 17, 2016. Benghazi Panel Chief Nullifies a Key Republican Theory, Democrats Say, The New York Times.

Eugene Kiely. July 21, 2016. The Benghazi Timeline, The Clinton Edition.

Robin Wright, June 28, 2016. “Chris Stevens’s Family: Don’t Blame Hillary Clinton for Benghazi,” The New Yorker.

Movie

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Directed and co-produced by Michael Bay (Paramount Pictures, 2014).

Opinion Editorials

Benghazi: What the Report Reveals about Hillary Clinton, Chicago Tribune, June 28, 2016.

Gregory N. Hicks, What the Benghazi attack taught me about Hillary Clinton, FOX News, September 11, 2016.

Video Clips

Erin Burnett, October 21, 2015. Benghazi attack timeline, Erin Burnett OutFront, CNN Politics.

The Guardian, October 22, 2015. Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi Hearing: the key moments so far,” The Guardian.

Website

The Washington Times, 2016. Shocking Photos Reveal Devastation of Benghazi Attack.

WEEK SEVEN:

THE CHILDCARE AGENDA

(POLICIES, PRACTICES, & LAWS)

 The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child; it is whether we can afford not to. ~ Marian Wright Edelman

Articles

Child Welfare Information Gateway, State Statutes Series. Case Planning for Families Involved With Child Welfare Agencies.

Zachary A. Goldfarb and Juliet Eilperin, June 23, 2014. Child-care issues move to the political forefront as both parties position for midterms, The Washington Post.

Richard Perez-Pena, September 14, 2016. How the Trump and Clinton Child Care Plans Stack Up, The New York Times.

Opinion Editorials

Hillary Clinton is Pledging More Tax Relief on Families with Young Children, Fortune, October 11, 2016.

Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2014. Creating Opportunities for Families: A Two-Generation Approach.

Child Rights International Network, July 6, 2010. Right To Vote: Children’s Rights Means Citizens.

League of Women Voters of California, 1993. Children and Family Issues Action Policy.

WEEK EIGHT:

WIKILEAKS, EMAILS, & A LACK OF SECURITY

(PRIVACY, PIRACY, & HYPOCRISY)

People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead. ~ James Baldwin

Articles

Eric Bradner, October 28, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s Email Controversy, Explained, CNN Politics.

Declan McCullagh, November 28, 2010. Congressman Wants Wikileaks Listed as Terrorist Group, CNET.

Eugene Scott, October 28, 2016. Eric Garner’s daughter blasts Clinton campaign after WikiLeaks emails, CNN Politics.

Donovan Slack and Eliza Collins, October 29, 2016. How We Got Here: A Timeline of the Clinton Email Scandal,” USA Today.

Jeff Stein, October 20, 2016. What 20,000 Pages of Hacked WikiLeaks Emails Teach Us about Hillary Clinton, Vox.

Book

Benedetta Brevini, Arne Hintz, and Patrick McCurdy, Beyond WikiLeaks: Implication for the Future of Communications (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

Video Clips

FoxNews, October 28, 2016. FBI Reopens Investigation into Hillary Clinton’s Email Use.

We are Change, March 7, 2016. Full Breakdown of the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal.

ABC News, July 27, 2016. What’s in the WikiLeaks DNC Recordings?

Website

Chris, October 27, 2016. Hillary Clinton: ‘I’m Kind of Far Removed from Struggles of Middle Class, Conservative Read.

UNIT THREE: FEMINISM, SISTERHOOD, & COLOR POLITICS

PRE-READINGS (books and media)

Books

Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Routledge, 2000).

Patricia Hill Collins, Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism (Routledge, 2005).

Paula Giddings, When and Where I Enter (William Morrow and Company Inc., 1985).

Louise A. Gikow, Kathy Rodgers and Lynn Hecht Schafran, Women (Legal Momentum, 2007).

Melissa V. Harris-Perry, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America (Yale University Press; Reprint edition, 2013).

bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism (South End Press, 1999).

bell hooks, Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics (Pluto Press, 2000).

bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (Routledge, 2014).

bell hooks, Outlaw Culture (Routledge, 2006).

bell hooks, Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black (Routledge, 2014).

bell hooks, Yearning (South End Press, 1990).

Joy James, Shadowboxing: Representations of Black Feminist Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 1999; Reprint, 2002).

Gerda Lerner, Black Women in White America (Random House, Inc., 1968).

Sophia Nelson, Black Woman Redefined: Dispelling Myths and Discovering Fulfillment in the Age of Michelle Obama (BenBella Books; Reprint edition, 2012).

Audrey Thomas McCluskey & Elaine M. Smith, Mary McLeod Bethune (Indiana University Press, 2001).

Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, edited by Beverly Guy-Sheftall, (The New Press, 1995).

Movies

Dark Girls. Directed by D. Channsin Berry and Bill Duke, (Image Entertainment, 2011).

Light Girls. Directed by Bill Duke, (Duke Media, 2015).

WEEK NINE:

FROM WOODHULL TO CLINTON:

WOMEN AND THE PRESIDENCY

 If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right side again. ~ Sojourner Truth

Articles

Alison Mitchel, June 11, 2016. To Understand Clinton’s Moment, Consider That it Came 32 Years After Ferraro’s, New York Times.

BBC News, December 24, 2003. Carol Moseley Braun, BBC News.

Carol Felsenthal, April 9, 2015. The Strange Tale of the First Woman to Run for President: Before Hillary Clinton There Was Victoria Woodhull, Politico Magazine.

Opinion Editorials

Anastasia Curwood, July 25, 2016. Hillary Clinton Standing on the Shoulders of Shirley Chisholm, Herald Leader.

Geraldine A. Ferraro, February 25, 2008. Got a Problem? Ask the Super, New York Times.

Video Clip

AP Archive, July 21, 2015. Elizabeth Dole Steals the Show at Republican Convention. 

Websites

American Rhetoric Profile June 1, 1950. Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience, American Rhetoric.

Makers Profile, 2016. Geraldine Ferraro: Vice-Presidential Nominee, Makers.

Ruth Tam, February 26, 2014. She The People: Carol Moseley Braun: Small Wonder’ There is Not More Diversity in Congress, Washington Post.

WEEK TEN:

FEMINISM: THE RADICAL NOTION THAT WOMEN ARE PEOPLE (TOO)

(SISTERHOOD & STRUGGLE)

I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people of America. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Articles

Liz Adetiba, July 1, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s Complex Embodiment of Shirley Chisholm’s Legacy, TheHuffingtonPost.com Inc.

Rebecca Bohanan, July 25, 2016. 12 Women Ran for President Before Hillary, Huffington Post.

Amy Chozick, March 8, 2015. Hillary Clinton Faces Test of Record as Women’s Advocate, The New York Times.

Michele Gorman, August 5, 2016. Female U.S Presidential Contenders Before Hillary Clinton 2016, Newsweek.

Steven Hill, March 7, 2014. Why Does the US Still Have So Few Women in Power?, The Nation.

Ejaz Khan. Ten Most Famous Women Political Leaders, Wonderlist.

Jill Lepore, June 27, 2016. The Woman Card: How feminism and antifeminism created Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, The New Yorker.

Garance Franke-Ruta, April 8, 2013. How the ‘System of Beauty’ Hurts Female Politicians, The Atlantic.

Julia Manchester, June 10, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s female forerunners, CNN Politics.

Lois Romano, July 24, 2016. Before Clinton, these women blazed the long, frustrating trail, The Washington Post.

Lily Rothman, April 27, 2016. How A Major US Party First Nominated a Woman for Vice President, Time.

Rebecca Traister, February 22, 2016. The Single American Woman, New York Magazine.

Bernard Weinraub, July 12, 2984. Geraldine Ferraro is Chosen by Mondale as Running Mate, First Women on Major Ticket, The New York Times.

Books

Shirley Chisholm, Unbought and Unbossed (Houghton Mifflin, 1970).

Ellen Fitzpatrick, The Highest Glass Ceiling: Women’s Quest for Presidency (Harvard University Press, 2016).

Lori D. Ginzberg, Women and the Work of Benevolence: Morality, Politics, and Class in the Nineteenth-century United States (Yale University Press, 1990).

Torben Iversen and Frances Rosenbluth, Women, Work, and Politics: The Political Economy of Gender Inequality (Yale University Press, 2011).

Women, Culture and Society: A Reader, edited by Michelle Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere (Stanford University Press, 1974).

Movie

MAKERS: Women in Politics, Directed by Grace Lee, (Verizon, 2015)

Websites

Global Fund for Women: Champions for Equality. Women’s Human Rights.

MSNBC, June 6, 2016. Before Hillary: Female Political Trailblazers.

PeaceCorps. Global Issues: Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.

The Hillary Clinton Campaign. Women’s Rights and Opportunity.

The National Democratic Institute. Gender, Women, and Democracy.

The White House: Office of Press Secretary. Fact Sheet: Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.

UN Women. Facts and Figures: Leadership and Political Participation.

WEEK ELEVEN:

THE PERSONAL IS (ALWAYS) POLITICAL

(NEGOTIATING MISOGYNY & SEXISM)

 When they go low, we go high. ~ Michelle Obama

Articles

Amy Chozick and Ashley Parker, April 28, 2016. Donald Trump’s Gender-Based Attacks on Hillary Clinton have Calculated Risk, The New York Times.

Kelly Wilz, February 4, 2016. A Feminist’s Guide to Critiquing Hillary Clinton, Academe Blog.

Laura Bates, February 28, 2016. Spanking’ Hillary Clinton is Grotesque Misogyny, Time.

Hannah Groch-Begley, February 5, 2016. A Comprehensive Guide to Sexist Attacks on Hillary Clinton From 2008 Campaign, Media Matters.

Michelle Cottle, August 17, 2016. The Era of ‘The Bitch’ Is Coming, The Atlantic.

Rebekah Tromble and Dirk Hovy, February 24, 2016. These 6 Charts Show How Much Sexism Hillary Clinton Faces On Twitter, The Washington Post.

Susan Douglas, June 20, 2016. You Don’t Have to Like Hillary Clinton – But Sexist Attacks on Her Supporters are Shameful, In These Times.

Books

Carl Berstein, A Woman in Charge (Knopf Borzoi Books, 2007).

Deborah Ohrn, Herstory: Women Who Changed the World (Viking Juvenile, 1995).

Gloria Steinem, Moving Beyond Words: Age, Rage, Sex, Power, Money, Muscles: Breaking the Boundaries of Gender (Open Road Media, 1995).

Movie

Miss Representation. Directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, (Girls’ Club Entertainment, 2011).

Video Clips

ABC News Australia. Hillary Clinton Says Julia Gillard’s ‘Misogyny Speech’ Was Striking.

The News Show, September 29, 2016. Sean Hannity on Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Misogyny, Donald Trump vs Alicia Machado.

Websites

Amanda Marcotte, October 20, 2016. Hillary Clinton is an actual Feminist: She Met Trump’s Misogyny Head On, Without Apology, Salon.

Andrew O’Hehir, February 13, 2016. Hillary, Bernie, Women and Men: Hey, Guys – Gender Politics Are Central to This Race, Not a Footnote, Salon.

Charlotte Alter, June 6, 2016. Sexist Hillary Clinton Attacks Are Best Sellers, Time.

Daniel Bush, 2016. Election 2016: the Hidden Sexism That Could Sway the Election, PBS NewsHour.

WEEK TWELVE:

ON NAVIGATING A WORLD WHERE #BLACKLIVESMATTER

(THE NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT)

One ever feels his twoness – an American a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two reconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. ~ W. E. B. Du Bois

Articles

Yamiche Alcindor, August 1, 2016. Black Lives Matter Coalition Makes Demand as Campaign Heats Up, The New York Times.

Michael Eric Dyson, November 29, 2015. A Skeptic’s Journey: Why Hillary Clinton will do more for black people than Obama, The New Republic .

JD Heyes, September 9, 2016. Total Stupidity: Black Lives Matter Clams that Climate Change is Racist, Newstarget.

S.A. Miller, September 27, 2016. Black Lives Matter Agrees with Clinton’s ‘implicit Racism’ Message but Doesn’t Trust Her, The Washington Times.

Bre Payton, August 4, 2016. Black Lives Matter Founder: ‘Clintons Use Black People For Votes, The Federalist.

Alex Pfeiffer, October 15, 2016. Leaked Transcript Shows Hillary And Black Lives Matter Activists Clashed In Private Meeting, The Daily Caller.

Book

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (Haymarket, 2016).

Opinion Editorials

Glenn Beck, September 7, 2016. Empathy for Black Lives Matter,” The New York Times.

Erin Aubry Kaplan, August 7, 2016, In the Black Lives Matter Era, We Need Justice Well Beyond the Legal Sense, Los Angeles Times.

Karsonya Wise Whitehead, February 22, 2013. Can #BlackLivesMatter last?, The Baltimore Sun.

Movie

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, Directed by Shola Lynch, (Lionsgate, 2012).

Video Clips

Democracy Now, July 28, 2016. Michael Eric Dyson vs. Eddie Glaude on Race, Hillary Clinton and the Legacy of Obama’s Presidency.

Journeyman Pictures, April 12, 2016. #BlackLivesMatter – A New Generation of Civil Rights Activists is Emerging From the Violence of the USA.

RBC Network, July 26, 2016. Mothers of the Movement – Black Lives Matter Speech at the Democratic National Convention. 

Websites

Reuters Adam Bettcher, August 1, 2016. Black Lives Matter Group Releases Agenda Ahead of Presidential Election, CBS News.

Yamich Alcindor, August 1, 2016. Black Lives Matter Coalition Makes Demands as Campaign Heats Up, The New York Times.

Aamer Madhani and Kevin Johnson, July 27, 2016. Black Lives Matter Protesters Want to Send Message to Clinton, USA Today.

Nia-Malika Henderson, August 19, 2015. How Black Lives Matter Activists are Influencing 2016 Race, CNN Politics.

WEEK THIRTEEN:

FAREWELL TO A DREAM

(CLINTON, CONCESSION AND CONSOLATIONS)

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. ~Maya Angelou

In Her Own Words

Sam Frizell, 2016. Hillary Clinton Concedes, Leaving Democrats at a Loss. Time Politics. (Article and Video)

Tara Golshan, Nov 9, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s concession speech full transcript: 2016 presidential election. Vox (Full Transcript and Video)

Cartoon
Mike Smith, November 9, 2016. http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/opinion/cartoons/2012/09/18/daily-editorial-cartoons/1411813/ . Las Vegas Sun, King Features.

Books

Richard Ben Cramer, What It Takes: The Way to the White House (Vintage, Reprint Edition 1993).

Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Broadway Books, 2007).

Videos

Charlotte Alter, November 9, 2016. Hillary Clinton Collides Again With Highest Glass Ceiling, TIME.

Ian Hanchett, November 8, 2016. Cokie Roberts: ‘Probably A Strong Sentiment about Not Having a Women President,  ABC News.

Alexandra Jaffe, November 9, 2016. By the numbers: Third-Party Candidates Had an Outsize Impact on Election, NBCNews Politics.

Will Robinson, November 8, 2016. Trevor Noah to Hillary Clinton supporters: ‘Stay strong, stay positive, Entertainment Weekly.

Websites

Natalie Anders, November 4, 2016. Hillary Clinton Supporters Plan to Sport Pantsuits at the Polls, Wall Street Journal.

Tina Brown, November 6, 2016. Hillary Clinton vs. The Huge Lie, The Daily Beast.

Susan Chira, November 9, 2016. Vote Highlighted a Gender Gap, With Both Sides Feeling They’ve Lost Ground, New York Times.

Maggie Habermas and Alan Rappeport, November 8, 2016. Presidential Election: The Day Before the Storm, New York Times.

Michael Edison Hayden, November, 9, 2016. 5 Missteps That May Have Doomed the Clinton Campaign, ABC News.

Laura Heckler, November 9, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s Shocking Loss to Donald Trump May Mark the End of a Path-Breaking Career, The Wall Street Journal.

Jodi Kantor, November 9, 2016. Cheering for the First Female President, Until They Weren’t, New York Times. 

Susan Milligan, November 9, 2016. A Glass Ceiling Doesn’t Shatter After All, U.S. News and World Report.

Nicole Phelps, November 9, 2016. The Color Purple: Parsing the Meaning of Hillary Clinton’s Concession Speech Suit, VOGUE.

Andrew Rosenthal, November 9, 2016. A Time to Keep Fighting, New York Times.

lex Seitz-Wald, November 9, 2016. Hillary Clinton’s Loss Triggers Leadership Crisis for Democrats, NBC News.

Michael Tesler, November 9, 2016. Why the Gender Gap Doomed Hillary Clinton, The Washington Post.

 

 

 

Notes

*“Wedding Band power” was developed by Karsonya Wise Whitehead and specifically refers to the ways in which dynastic couples (who are both extremely successful in their own right) are able to join their personal and political power together and are then able to influence and shape the American political, social and economic climate (think Hillary and Bill; Jay-Z and Beyoncé; Barack and Michelle; and, Brad and Angelina, to name just a few)

**The organizers would like to thank the #CM203 “Introduction to Communication” students at Loyola University Maryland for their assistance and support.