Crying Out for Liberty: Black Women, Activism, and Political Thought.

Wednesday, November 1, 2023   |   5:30 PM   | YWCA

Kristin Waters weaves together a narrative about early Black women intellectuals and activists who reframed US political thought. Popular concepts like intersectionality, lived experience, silencing, and speaking truth to power find their roots in the writings of Black women in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. These writings have been “disappeared” over time and not allowed to take their proper place in the historical record. Now, scholars, artists, and activists have reclaimed this treasure trove of ideas and use them as powerful guides in our quest for a more equitable and just future.

Kristin Waters is the author of three books and dozens of essays on race and gender in political philosophy and the history of ideas. Her most recent book, Maria W. Stewart and the Roots of Black Political Thought was a finalist for the Pauli Murray Book Award from the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). Her previous co-edited book, Black Women’s Intellectual Traditions: Speaking Their Minds received the Letitia Woods Brown Prize from the Association of Black Women Historians. Her lifelong efforts have supported the drive for equity and social justice nationally and locally.