Black Women’s Counter Narratives: Art and Activism in a 21st Century American Struggle

Abstract

America has the look of a broken thing. In an era of systemic racism, domestic terrorism, police brutality, gender bias and misogyny, many Americans would like strategies that enable personal and collective healing accompanied by an enabling morality. One approach to accomplishing these things is to engage in the stories that confront the myth of Americanness as inclusive and safe. Focusing on the benefits of telling stories of Black women in America, the disruptive and constructive capacity of counter narratives help to illustrate how we can eschew culturally destructive behavior and replace it with conscious and ethical evolution.