Recognizing the vital contributions of Black women in celebration of Women’s History Month

From journalist Ida B. Wells to poet Maya Angelou to Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul music, Black women have made important contributions to the United States in a variety of areas, including politics, science, the arts, and social justice. Celebrating and recognizing Black women during Women’s History Month is an important way to honor their legacy and inspire future generations. The multi-faceted role of Black women must include another reality, however. Throughout U.S. history, Black women have had to navigate the intersection of racism and sexism, often facing multiple forms of discrimination and marginalization. Despite these challenges, Black women have played a crucial role in advancing human rights and freedoms, contributing to our knowledge base, and improving our world.

Joining the latest episode of Ideas to Innovation Season 2 from Clarivate is Dr. Ashley Farmer, a historian of Black women’s history, intellectual history and radical politics. She is currently an associate professor in the Departments of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her book, Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era  (UNC Press, 2017), is the first comprehensive study of black women’s intellectual production and activism in the Black Power era. Her next book, Queen Mother Audley Moore: Mother of Black Nationalism (forthcoming from UNC Press) will be the first biography of one of the most influential yet understudied activists and thinkers of the 20th century. The new book will examine Audley Moore’s life and activism from 1898 to 1997 and will reveal how Moore was an important but overlooked progenitor of Black Nationalist thought and activism. Dr. Farmer consults with ProQuest, part of Clarivate.