Work in Progress
Book-Length Manuscript
“We Are Fighting for Democracy:”
Black Women Activists and the Pursuit of All Things Equal, 1920s-Present
In spite of the systematic marginalization of Black women in the United States on the basis of race, gender, class, and sexuality, in We Are Fighting for Democracy I argue that Black women activists have constructed alternative narratives of American democracy that expand democratic discourse. Although much of the historical rhetoric surrounding democracy has championed its universality vis a vis its widespread appeal and application, Black women have always struggled to realize its full benefits in their lives and communities.
Courtney L. Thompson
American Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies
Research
Past Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
“No Choice But to Strive:” Gender, State Power, and Resistance in the Narratives of Emma Mashinini, Mamphela Ramphele, and Wangari Muta Maathai. Palimpsest: A Journal on Women, Gender, and the Black International 7.1 (2018): 19-47.
“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood:” Ruminations on Teaching Black Masculinity in the United States. Women, Gender, and Families of Color 6.1 (2018): 103-09.
“If There Is Common Rough Work to Be Done, Call on Me:” Tracing the Legacy of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper in the Black Lives Matter Era. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies 12.10 (2019): 93-109.
Edited Collections
“Work to Be Done:” Democratic Pursuits and Black Women Activists, 1940s-1965. Africana Studies: A Review of Social Science Research, ed. James Conyers 6 (2015): 139-61. Invited manuscript
The Gift of Giving: The Golden Rule Variation. What Do You Stand For?: Stories About Principles that Matter, ed. by Jim Litchman (Palm Desert: Scribbler’s Ink, 2004)
Other Published Work
“Mary E. Britton.” Encyclopedia of Seventh-Day Adventists (ESDA), Online Edition, edited by Douglas Morgan. (Silver Spring, Maryland): North American Division, General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, 2019.
“National Council of Negro Women.” Race and Ethnicity in America: From Pre-Contact to the Present, edited by Russell M. Lawson. (Santa Barbara, CA): ABC-Clio, 2019.
Rev. of Black Women in Texas History, eds. Bruce A. Glasrud and Merline Pitre. Southern Historian: A Journal of Southern History XXXI (2010): 140-41.
Peer-Reviewed Articles Accepted for Publication
“Beyond the Pale of Acceptability: Black Womanhood and the Soft Checking ofOtherness” (International Journal of Africana Studies/ IJAS)
“See What She Becomes: Black Women’s Resistance in Hidden Figures” (Feminist Media Studies/ FMS)
Courtney L. Thompson
American Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies
