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A review by lattelibrarian
Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World from the Tweets to the Streets by Feminista Jones
5.0
Before I read this book, I was convinced that online activism (slacktivism) was not useful. After all, what exactly does sharing memes do? What does ranting on twitter do besides blowing off some steam? Turns out, it does quite a lot! From the #MeToo movement to creating an online horror community, black feminist women bring to light a lesser-known (and lesser-viewed) type of activism.
Feminista Jones discusses how often black women are disregarded from this conversation, and how little such efforts are realized and promoted. She also discusses hashtags such as #blackgirlmagic and how "cancel" and "woke" culture are trends that have evolved alongside the internet and why such cultures arose.
Perhaps my favorite chapter, however, was the penultimate one in which Jones discusses Mammy 2.0 where white folks only realize after the fact that black women were right all along, and that maybe, just maybe, they should have been listening to them from the beginning. But from this realization comes the cry of "listen to black women!" in which white folks get "woke" points for being so supportive instead of actually promoting and listening to these ideas. They only wish to be seen as progressive and supportive without actually putting the work in--thus effectively turning online black women activists into a Mammy 2.0 in which they must once more tend to the feelings of white folks.
Overall, this was a strong, necessary book that takes a long, needed look at a different perspective of feminism. Where other authors might be focused solely on the streets, Jones focuses on how the streets and the tweets are intertwined, hardly able to be separated in this day and age. Certainly, this is a must-read for any and all feminists!
Review cross-listed here!
Feminista Jones discusses how often black women are disregarded from this conversation, and how little such efforts are realized and promoted. She also discusses hashtags such as #blackgirlmagic and how "cancel" and "woke" culture are trends that have evolved alongside the internet and why such cultures arose.
Perhaps my favorite chapter, however, was the penultimate one in which Jones discusses Mammy 2.0 where white folks only realize after the fact that black women were right all along, and that maybe, just maybe, they should have been listening to them from the beginning. But from this realization comes the cry of "listen to black women!" in which white folks get "woke" points for being so supportive instead of actually promoting and listening to these ideas. They only wish to be seen as progressive and supportive without actually putting the work in--thus effectively turning online black women activists into a Mammy 2.0 in which they must once more tend to the feelings of white folks.
Overall, this was a strong, necessary book that takes a long, needed look at a different perspective of feminism. Where other authors might be focused solely on the streets, Jones focuses on how the streets and the tweets are intertwined, hardly able to be separated in this day and age. Certainly, this is a must-read for any and all feminists!
Review cross-listed here!