Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
In 2000, over TK activists convened in Santa Cruz, California. They were drawn together from diverse communities by one unifying mission: to end the war being waged on women of color in the US and around the world. There INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence was born. Already the largest multiracial, grassroots feminist organization in the US, INCITE! boasts TK members and chapters in TK cities, including New York, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Seattle. Color of Violencepresents the fierce and vital writing of 24 of these visionary women-including well-known scholars and activists Kimberle Crenshaw, Haunani-Kay Trask, Dorothy Roberts, Elizabeth Martinez, and Margo Okazawa-Rey.
Drawing astute connections between different forms of interpersonal violence and violence perpetrated by police, prisons, and the military, the contributors both expand the definition of violence against women- shifting the focus from domestic violence and sexual assault-and place women of color at the center. For example, Loretta Ross reveals how immigration laws and border policing compound violence against migrating women and Patricia Allard explores how the state inflicts violence through legislating poverty.
Unlike most existing examinations of violence against women that treat women as "victims,"Color of Violencehighlights the groundbreaking work of survivors and activists in creating strategies to counter violence. The authors 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, the INCITE! Anthologyis an essential intervention.
Synopsis
The Color of Violence radically expands our understandings about violence against women, and how to end it.
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.