Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology

by Andrea Smith, Beth E. Richie, Julia Sudbury

Overview

What would it take to end violence against women of color?How does the mainstream antiviolence movement help? How does it hinder?When will we admit that repositioning women of color at the center of the movement—women more often harmed by the police, prisons, and border patrols than aided by them—means that we must address state violence?

In Color of Violence, INCITE! demands that we
• reconsider a reliance on the criminal justice system for solving women’s struggles with domestic violence;
• acknowledge how militarism subjects women to extreme levels of violence perpetrated from within, and without, their communities;
• recognize how the medical establishment inflicts violence—such as involuntary sterilization and inadequate health care—on women of color;
• devise new strategies for cross-cultural dialogue, theorizing, and alliance building;
• and much, much more.

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence was born in 2000, when more than two thousand dedicated activists from diverse communities came together to end the war being waged on women of color in the US and around the world. Now the largest multiracial, grassroots, feminist organization in the United States, INCITE! boasts chapters in more than 20 cities. Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology presents the fierce and vital writing of 32 of these visionaries, who not only shift the focus from domestic violence and sexual assault, but also map innovative strategies of movement building and resistance used by women of color around the world. At a time of heightened state surveillance and repression of people of color, Color of Violence: The INCITE! Anthology is an essential intervention.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780896087620
Publisher:	South End Press
Publication date:	08/01/2006
Pages:	275
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Assistant professor in Native American Studies at University of Michigan, Smith cofounded INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, the largest grassroots multiracial feminist organization in the US. Her first book, Conquest, won the Myers Outstanding Book award. In 2005 Smith was endorsed by 1000 Women for Peace for a Nobel Prize nomination, one of only 40 Americans on the list. Associate Professor in Criminal Justice and Women's Studies and Director of the African American Studies Program at the University of Illinois, Richie is currently researching women and youth issues at Riker's Island Correctional Facility.

Editorial Reviews

Anyone who's complacent about the successes of the feminist movement should dip into this collection of 28 essays about the women left behind, left out or simply forgotten. Ranging in style from the jeremiad to the jargon-laden, from the anecdotal to the analytical, the essays are compiled by Incite!, which describes itself as "the largest multiracial grassroots feminist organization in the U.S." Three essays offer eye-opening revelations below the radar of mainstream feminism ("Disability in the New World Order" by Nirmala Erevelles; "Disloyal to Feminism: Abuse of Survivors within the Domestic Violence Shelter System" by Emi Kayama; "Criminal Punishment and Economic Violence Against Women of Color" by Patricia Allard). Though representing a broad spectrum, the contributions often fall in ethnic huddles; four, for example, focus on the Israel/Palestine conflict and three on Iraq and terrorism. Andrea Ritchie's "Law Enforcement Violence against Women of Color" and Andrea Smith's "Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy" are noteworthy for their inclusiveness. Frequently polemical and controversial, some essays may preach to the choir while turning off the congregation. Two haunting poems by Noura Erekat and maiana minahal urge a thoughtful consideration of the other texts. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly