African-American Women Leaders after 1950s

• Název práce v češtině: Afroamerické aktivistky po roce 1950
• Název v anglickém jazyce: African-American Women Leaders after 1950s
• Klíčová slova: Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Angela Davis, bell hooks, afroamerický aktivismus, vůdcovství, feminismus, rasismus, sexismus, hnutí za občanská práva, mnohovrstvá oprese
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Angela Davis, bell hooks, African-American activism, leadership, feminism, racism, sexism, civil rights movement, multilayered oppression
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2013/2014
• Typ práce: bakalářská práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Ústav anglofonních literatur a kultur (21-UALK)
• Vedoucí / školitel: David Lee Robbins, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno a potvrzeno stud. odd.
• Datum přihlášení: 05.05.2014
• Datum zadání: 05.05.2014
• Schválení administrátorem: zatím neschvalováno
• Datum potvrzení stud. oddělením: 12.05.2014
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 22.06.2015 00:00
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 04.05.2015
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 22.06.2015
• Odevzdaná/finalizovaná: odevzdaná studentem a finalizovaná
• Oponenti: PhDr. Hana Ulmanová, Ph.D.

Zásady pro vypracování

In the United States, a skillful leadership has always been of crucial importance for the black community as every racially discriminated group depends on those who are willing to speak on its behalf. Even initial inquiry into African-American leadership, however, immediately reveals an interesting bias. Black male national leaders’ opinions have been dutifully collected and examined by many historiographers. Black female leaders’ contributions are very often ignored and omitted. This lack of attention given to black female activists supports an assumption that these black women have frequently faced a more multilayered oppression than black men.
Structurally, a black person within a predominantly white society has to deal with racist offenses. A black woman is not only racially oppressed but she is also made a victim of sexism by men regardless of their race. Moreover, the black woman must constantly face various stereotypes, concerning her physical aspects and/or her intellect, which are imposed on her by whites and blacks. Finally, if the black woman decides to play an active role within the community and even adopt a leadership role, she has to challenge the stereotypical notion of black male leadership as well as the myth of the black woman’s submissiveness.
The main focus of the thesis is to give the most authentic account of the situation of the black woman leader in the American context. In order to do so, the focus will be on four African-American women leaders. Those personages viewed the black woman’s situation according to their own experience as they faced various kinds of oppression to which the black woman can be subjected. More importantly, the aim of the thesis is to prove a specific development of the perspective of these female leaders. As the black activists’ opinions are necessarily influenced by the period of leadership, two periods are going to be compared.
Firstly, Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer represent the Civil Rights Era. As they were born early in the 20^th century, their activism reached its peak in the 1960s. Secondly, Angela Davis and bell hooks are active public figures even today as they were born approximately in the middle of the 20^th century. Whereas the Civil Rights Era activism of Baker and Hamer still embodies a considerable loyalty towards male leaders and the patriarchal order of the black community, the latter generation of Davis and hooks seems to be aware of the dangers of such a gender hierarchy and these activists seem to acquire a significantly feminist approach to the question of black leadership. Accordingly, the similarities and differences of these female leaders’ opinions will be discussed and thus a gradual development from patriarchal loyalty to open feminism will be illustrated in the thesis.

Seznam odborné literatury

Primary sources
-Davis, Angela Y. The Meaning of Freedom. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2012.
-Davis, Angela Y. Women, Culture & Politics. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.
-Davis, Angela Y. Women, Race & Class. New York: Vintage Books, 1983.
-Davis, Angela Y. An Autobiography. London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd, 1974.
-hooks, bell. Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1981.
-hooks, bell. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1984.
-hooks, bell. Feminism is for Everybody. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000.
-hooks, bell. Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1989.
-hooks, bell and Cornel West. Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1991.
-James, Joy. The Angela Y. Davis Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1998.
Secondary sources
-Grant, Joanne. Ella Baker: Freedom Bound. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998.
-Moye, J.Todd. Ella Baker: Community Organizer of the Civil Rights Movement. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2013.
-Bracey, Earnest N. Fannie Lou Hamer: The Life of a Civil Rights Icon. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2011.
-Lee, Chana Kai. For Freedom’s Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999.
-Mills, Kay. This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.