Artistic Resistance: The Art and Activism of Black Women in America 1960-1980

America in the 1960s to 1980s, was a powder keg of political and social activity. While everyone was advocating for equality in the form of various movements, the Black civil rights movement gave birth to the Black Arts Liberation movement (BAM). Amongst the dominant voices, Black female artists strived to make their voices heard. They rejected the notion that their oppression/discrimination was based solely on gender or race, but a culmination of multiple factors that created a unique set of challenges and perspectives. They used their musical, literary, and visual art as a protest tool to explore notions of race, gender, sexuality, power dynamics, female representation and class while advocating for liberation. Discussions surrounding diversity, racial justice and inclusion have taken center stage in public debate, especially in the United States. These debates have raised questions about how people of various backgrounds navigate these discussions. This has also shed light on the academic scope of Civil Rights and feminist movement scholarship, while vast, has limited focus on groups within the movement and their contributions. Through an intersectional analytical lens, this project highlights the understudied demographic of black female artists within the scope of the BAM, how and why they used specific repertoires of contention in social activism and what this means for the broader implications of both the feminist and black civil rights movements, art and activism.