Under attack: fighting the assaults on black queer and black feminist studies

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It seems like literally every day those on the right are drafting, and sometimes passing, more legislation that curtails investigation, discussion, and the teaching of subject matter related to racism, white supremacy, and anti-blackness, with such efforts often portrayed as a necessary kind of corrective to what they call or we used to call "woke ideology" and the re-centering of parents as central decision makers in the education of their children.
Cathy Cohen, Founder and Leader of GenForward

Across the country right-wing politicians and Republican-controlled legislatures are moving to eliminate and censor the teaching of Black feminism and Black queer studies. Cloaked behind the tropes of parents’ rights, the fragility of white youth, and the danger of Critical Race Theory, these forces seek to curtail the political education, freedom dreams, and collective resistance of Black communities and young people more broadly.

On the panel “Under Attack: Fighting the Assaults on Black Queer and Black Feminist Studies?”, GenForward’s founder and leader Cathy Cohen discussed current attacks on Black Queer and Black Feminist studies with activists and scholars Jafari Sinclaire Allen, Sarah Haley, and Jesse Hagopian. They examine how these current political strategies of censorship, anti-Blackness, and homophobia are part of a long history of attacks on Black Studies and Black Feminism; why Black Feminism and Black Queer Studies are central to the liberation of Black people; and how we can and must fight back.

Watch the panel here.