Black Feminism & #BlackTwitter

In honour of African Heritage Month, I want to draw attention the important work that is being done by Black feminist and womanist writers.

For anyone with a Twitter account, access to the creative and intellectual work being produced by an exciting new generation of Black feminists has never been easier. In a 2013 Salon article, the author and activist Feminista Jones, described the emergence of the #BlackTwitter hashtag as representing "a collective of active, primarily African-American Twitter users who have created a virtual community that participates in continuous real-time conversations." Although Twitter encourages its users to "join the conversation," I've learned more by silently following and reflecting on the tweets and links posted by @FeministaJones, who also led the movement behind #YouOKSis; @ZerlinaMaxwell, the political writer and analyst known for her attacks on rape culture; and from discussions tied to the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which was created by Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza. News and opinion sites that serve the Black community, like The Root, also maintain a presence on Twitter where they regularly promote the work of Black feminist writers and advocates.

Off-line, there are a wealth of books published by authors of African heritage that deserve attention. You don't need a computer to enjoy them!

Bad Feminist: essays by Roxane Gay
Black Girls are from the Future: essays on race, digital creativity and pop culture by Renina Jarmon
Black Feminist Thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment by Patricia Hill Collins
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Talking Back: thinking feminist, thinking black by bell hooks