Theorizing Empowerment: Canadian Perspectives on Black Feminist Thought (review)

Theorizing Empowerment seeks to bring together varying perspectives on Black feminist thought. The book espouses multiple perspectives, theoretical and experiential, on what it means to be a Black woman living in the Canadian landscape, while also seeking alliances with feminists of African descent, globally. The editors argue that the collection celebrates the lives of Black Canadian women, by situating, contextualizing, and giving meaning to their lives. This well-structured book groups the arguments into four sections: ‘Black Feminist Spiritualities: Where It All Begins,’ ‘Black Feminist Histories and Frameworks: Reclaiming “Our Place,”’ ‘Black Canadian Feminist Experiences and Struggles: Multiple Jeopardy,’ and ‘Black Canadian Feminist Discourses and Practices: Organizing for Change.’ The book is a careful study of selected past and present experiences of Black women in the Americas and in Africa, while gesturing to a future of shared alliances, globally, with women regardless of race. In so doing, the book is in itself an act of empowerment that draws on the acts of Black women and the knowledges that Black women have gained from shared experiences. The book, then, gives voice to women who have been silenced by their marginalized experiences both in terms of race and gender; most of the discussions are based on material evidence and data gathered from government agencies and interviews, adequately supporting the claims made by these theorists.

Some may argue that many of these ideas have been discussed in books written not only by Canadian scholars, but also by oft-cited African American feminists Patricia Hill Collins and bell hooks. Nevertheless, the beauty of this book is that it provides a central place for multiple perspectives of previously articulated ideas, while adding several new dimensions: it is a call to all feminists to seize the moment for new alliances, to revive sisterhood across race, and to continue to advocate for social justice on common ground – to share in the solution, implementation, and eradication of multiple oppressions that affect all women. If feminists continue to divide themselves across cultural and racial lines, they will continue to perpetuate the existing colonial, patriarchal models of hierarchy against which they stand.

The arguments put forth by all contributors broaden Black feminist theorizings. For example, Wane introduces spirituality as the basis for healing and empowerment of Black women. I was especially delighted to see this opening chapter, because so many Black scholars have found it challenging to articulate the meaning of spirituality as it relates to people of African descent, let alone convince others of the significance of spirituality to the lives of all Black people over time and across location. Wane’s chapter on ‘African Women and Canadian History’ also reframes arguments in intriguing ways. The timeline ‘African Canadian Women’s History in Canada’ is important because it is more inclusive of African Canadians in general, thus it is a useful tool for thinking about researching various persons, events, and histories. Massaquoi’s chapter on ‘Black Feminist Histories and Frameworks’ engages the varying perspectives on these topics, while arguing that ‘[a]s black feminists in a Canadian context we must untie our tongues, our culture of silence, as well as the mainstream’s act of silencing us in order for us to become whole . . . and undenied.’ Other arguments by contributors include discussions on the intersectionality of race, gender, and language, specifically of francophone peoples, especially Black francophones. The connection between ‘censure and silence’ and the prison system is also discussed in relation to the eradication of incarceration of women. Another topic of interest is the advocacy for the end of female gender mutilation; this discussion is insightful and adds another complex concern: the author encourages Western feminists to also think about the ways that gender mutilation (cosmetic genital surgeries) are also practised in Western culture but are ‘presented as trends with beneficial outcomes when it comes to esthetics and sexuality.’

This rich collection will appeal to a wide audience, scholars and lay-people, interested in Black feminist perspectives. It will also open...