Freedom’s Plow: Framing Black Women’s Journey in Contemporary Society provides students with diverse readings on the multifaceted experiences of black women with particular focus on?their historical treatment and how their identity has been shaped by the intersection of race, class, and gender in a changing society. 

The anthology is comprised of black feminist texts that center on the experience of black women and explore the cultural, political, and historical contexts in which black women live their lives. Part I features readings on the history and politics of black womanhood, including selections on slavery, motherhood, work, and family. Part II explores issues of controlling images, beauty, and the body, featuring readings on media representation and racialization, sexual politics, the embodiment of diaspora, and more. The final part contains readings that closely examine how black women challenge political and social systems through activism and feminism. 

A powerful anthology centered on resilience and black womanhood, Freedom’s Plow is well-suited for courses that focus on racial, gender, and ethnic relations, as well as those that explore the social problems of race and ethnicity.

Marci Bounds Littlefield is an associate professor in sociology and ethnic studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College CUNY. She received a masters in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson Graduate School of Public Affairs and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Her areas of specialization include race and ethnicity, gender, and family. She has publications on Black women in the media, their role as mothers, and gender and racial groups as a source of support for domestic violence. She also has authored several publications on the role of the African American church in community and economic development. Her most recent research looks at the visual culture of the Civil War and sexuality and Black women in the 19th century.