A Qualitative Analysis of the Relationship between State Violence and Black Women Activists’ Consciousness and Agency in the 21st Century

• In Event: 096 - Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) Research Session. Issues in Health, Well-Being, and Stratification

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between state policies and practices and contemporary Black women activists’ consciousness and agency in their political work. We highlight unique ways Black women are affected by state violence and the ways in which they negotiate caring for themselves, as part of their political practice. Blacks account for 12% of the U.S. population and are disproportionately killed in police custody. As victims of state violence, Black women’s deaths and suffering are rendered invisible, thus creating barriers to a cohesive political agenda for liberation (Crenshaw et. al. 2015). Still, Black women have fought back for generations by exercising their agency through creating their own organizations (Jones 1995; Hooks 1981; Hill-Collins 2004; Ransby 2003). In this current capitalist epoch, Black women experience rising un/underemployment, homelessness, militarization, criminalization, and state violence. Furthermore, this technological driven economy reproduces state violence through the constant sharing of police killings, current headlines, or crime scenes within seconds on social media. Using a historical materialist conceptualization, we highlight the relationship of Black women activists’ material conditions and the ways in which they exercise agency in their political work. We explore their tactics and strategy in dealing with trauma and mental health resulting from state violence. We will conduct personal interviews of 10 to 12 Black women activists, 18 to 50 years of age in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV). We will ask the following three questions: (1) What is the relationship of state violence and Black women activists’ mental health? (2) How do Black women activists in movement struggle against police killings, utilize their agency in their political work? (3) What is their vision for their political work and long-term strategies? Here, Black women include transwomen, heterosexual, and non-conforming women. State violence is defined as physical (rape, harassment, and killing) economic (income), social (racism, sexism), and political (civil-rights, oppression) exploitation of a group.

Author

• Shaneda L Destine, Howard