A long overdue look at the central role Black studies has played within academic life and culture, this volume explains how, as a truly transdisciplinary field, Black studies brought nonwhite Barbies, the pragmatics of political activism, and profound educational initiatives into the classroom.

Introduction - Jacqueline Bobo, Cynthia Hudley, Claudine Michel Part I: Theorizing Black Studies Section A: Evolution of Consciousness 1. The Intellectual and Institutional Development of Africana Studies, by Robert L. Harris, Jr. 2. Black Studies in Liberal Arts Education, by Johnnetta B. Cole 3. Theorizing Black Studies: The Continuing Role of Community Service in the Study of Race and Class, by James Jennings 4. How the West Was One: On the Uses and Limitations of Diaspora, by Robin D. G. Kelley Section B: Black Feminism: Acts of Resistance 5. Womanist Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of Saint Luke, by Elsa Barkley Brown 6. Discontented Black Feminists: Prelude and Postscript to the Passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, by Rosalyn Terborg-Penn 7. Ella Baker and the Origins of Participatory Democracy, by Carol Mueller 8: Black Women and the Academy, by Angela Y. Davis Section C: Representing Black Men 9. How Deep, How Wide? Perspectives on the Making of The Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry, by Jacqueline Shearer 10. Military Rites and Wrongs: African Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces, by Phyllis R. Klotman 11. Justifiable Homicide, Police Brutality, or Governmental Repression? The 1962 Los Angeles Shooting of Seven Members of the Nation of Islam, by Frederick Knight 12. Some Glances at the Black Fag: Race, Same-Sex Desire, and Cultural Belonging, by Marlon B. Ross Part II: Conceptualizing Culture and Ideology Section D: Text Creation and Representation 13. Black Women as Cultural Readers, by Jacqueline Bobo 14. Black Talk Radio: Defining Community Needs and Identity, by Catherine R. Squires 15. Chasing Fae: The Watermelon Woman and Black Lesbian Possibility, by Laura L. Sullivan 16. Dread Path/Lock Spirit, by Akasha (Gloria) Hull Section E: Interrogating Cultural Expressions 17. In the Year 1915: D.W. Griffith and the Whitening of America, by Cedric J. Robinson 18. What is This Black in Black Popular Culture, by Stuart Hall 19. Dyes and Dolls: Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Difference, Ann duCille 20. African Signs and Spirit Writing, by Harryette Mullen Part III: Sexuality, Education, Religion Section F: Autonomy, Subjectivity, Sexuality 21. Black (W)holes and the Geometry of Black Female Sexuality, by Evelynn Hammonds 22. Black Bodies/Gay Bodies: The Politics of Race in the Gay/Military Battle, by Alycee J. Lane 23. Hormones and Melanin: The Dimensions of Race, Sex and Gender in Africology: Reflective Journeys, by Patrick Bellegarde-Smith 24. Can the Queen Speak? Racial Essentialism, Sexuality, and the Problem of Authority, by Dwight A. McBride Section G: Education: Pedagogy, Practice 25. Home-School Partnership Through the Eyes of Parents, by Cynthia Hudley and Rhoda Barnes 26. Desegregation Experiences of Minority Students: Adolescent Coping Strategies in Five Connecticut High Schools, by Randi L. Miller 27. Racial Socialization Strategies of Parents in Three Black Private Schools, by Deborah J. Johnson 28. Talking About Race, Learning About Racism: The Application of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom, by Beverly Daniel Tatum Section H: Religion in Black Life 29. Slave Ideology and Biblical Interpretation, by Katie Geneva Cannon 30. Black Theology and the Black Woman, by Jacquelyn Grant 31. Teaching Haitian Vodou, by Claudine Michel 32. Islam in the African-American Experience, by Richard Brent Turner