Nneka D Dennie
Washington and Lee University, History, Faculty Member
- nnekadennie.com | Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Essential Writings of a Nineteenth-Century Black Radical Feminist now available for pre-order; ships October 13, 2023 | Black feminist sch... morennekadennie.com | Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Essential Writings of a Nineteenth-Century Black Radical Feminist now available for pre-order; ships October 13, 2023 | Black feminist scholar with specializations in 19th-20th century African American history and black intellectual historyedit
Research Interests:
W. E. B. Du Bois offered visionary analyses of racism in the United States. While his early claims are largely applicable to black men alone, as shown by The Souls of Black Folk (1903), “The Damnation of Women,” a chapter from Darkwater:... more
W. E. B. Du Bois offered visionary analyses of racism in the United States. While his early claims are largely applicable to black men alone, as shown by The Souls of Black Folk (1903), “The Damnation of Women,” a chapter from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (1920), exemplifies his intersectional approaches to black women’s oppression. This article demonstrates how Du Bois’s relationship to black feminism evolved from 1903 to 1920. First, it argues that Du Bois’s early writings prioritized black women’s social marginalization, while his work from the late 1910s onward also critiqued their structural oppression. Second, the article contends that black women’s writing and activism at the turn of the twentieth century radicalized Du Bois and catalyzed the shift in his political thought. It concludes that black women’s mobilization at the turn of the twentieth century motivated Du Bois to embrace an incipient form of black male feminism.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Because we believe in #blackgirlmagic as a decolonizing space and declaration, our roundtable will discuss the various ways that we have struggled against isolation to create solidarity within academia through our collective. Our... more
Because we believe in #blackgirlmagic as a decolonizing space and declaration, our roundtable will discuss the various ways that we have struggled against isolation to create solidarity within academia through our collective. Our discussion affirms why we need spaces to acknowledge mutual struggle, to celebrate small and large victories, to know that we are not alone on the long and hard road towards a graduate degree. Representing six institutions, five disciplines, and many intersectional experiences, we hope to encourage other graduate students, scholars, and activists to create their own spaces, especially if they do not already exist.
This roundtable was presented at the National Women's Studies Association 2016 conference.
This roundtable was presented at the National Women's Studies Association 2016 conference.
Research Interests:
In this paper, I examine Claudia Jones’s analyses of the interrelatedness of global oppressions, particularly as she centers the experiences of black women. I argue that Jones’s transnational, anti-racist, Communist feminism transcended... more
In this paper, I examine Claudia Jones’s analyses of the interrelatedness of global oppressions, particularly as she centers the experiences of black women. I argue that Jones’s transnational, anti-racist, Communist feminism transcended global boundaries by theorizing a revolutionary interpretation of the relationship between national oppressions and international struggles against imperialism. By investigating the relationship between feminism, anti-racism, anti-imperialism, and diaspora as expressed in Jones’s work, I explore the contemporary implications of her legacy for black feminist scholarship and praxis. Jones’s theorization ultimately articulates a powerful declaration of the potential for diasporic black feminism to affect global change.
Research Interests:
This senior honors thesis evaluates the theories for racial progress put forth in A Voice from the South (1892) and The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Using secondary sources by David Levering Lewis, Joy James, and more, I critique Du Bois’s... more
This senior honors thesis evaluates the theories for racial progress put forth in A Voice from the South (1892) and The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Using secondary sources by David Levering Lewis, Joy James, and more, I critique Du Bois’s gendered oversights and argue that Cooper at times offers superior paradigms for understanding oppression. This project positions Cooper as an early black feminist thinker.