Reference no: EM133355182

Questions:

1. In her groundbreaking book Sister Citizen, Melissa Harris-Perry discusses several important issues relative to the African American experience in the twenty-first century. Using her metaphor of the crooked room and Deborah King's analysis of multiple jeopardies as context, provide three concrete examples and discuss the unique challenges facing today's African American women and how their experiences are impacted by these phenomena?
2. In From Margin to Center, bell hooks discusses sisterhood and solidarity among women and asserts that "We are taught that women are "natural" enemies, that solidarity will never exist between us because we cannot, should not, and do not bond with one another...We must learn the true meaning and value of Sisterhood." Within this context, analyze sisterhood in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, identifying at least two specific examples and/or non-examples of the power of female bonding and friendships.
3. Using Patricia Hill Collins' Black Sexual Politics as a point of departure, compare and contrasthow the mass media affects perceptions of the "authentic" Black male and female. Use at least two concrete examples to prove and/or disprove your argument.
4. From the pioneers in African American feminism to the present, education and activism have been cornerstones of feminist movement. bell hooks asserts that "Encouraging women to strive for education, to develop their intellects, should be a primary goal of feminist movement." Using at least three specific examples of African American feminists we have studied this semester, discusswhy education is so important to the success of feminist movement traditionally and currently.
5. Patricia Hill Collins' Black Sexual Politicsanalyzes how relations of gender and sexuality within contemporary African American communities reproduce and/or resist new forms of racism. Discuss how class specific representations of African American women and African American men that now circulate throughout global mass culture help structure the new racism in the United States.
6. Given your knowledge of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, identify three important characters that experience deception, injustice or oppression and discuss how each one resists the deception, injustice, or oppression s/he is subject to. Using clear and specific examples from the novel, discuss how multiple jeopardies and multiple consciousness inform their realities