Womanist AIDS Activism in the United States

Book excerpt: Womanist AIDS Activism in the United States: “It’s Who We Are” is an in-depth exploration of AIDS advocacy work among Black women. Based on interviews gathered from thirty-six Black women AIDS activists from across the nation, Angelique Harris and Omar Mushtaq examine the ways in which race, gender, sexuality, and spirituality influence the motivations and approaches behind the efforts of the women in the study. The authors use womanism—an epistemological framework that centers the world views of women of color—to better situate this activism within a larger sociocultural and historical context. They find that identity, spirituality, emotions, and experiences with AIDS knowledge all influence the ways in which these activists approached their community activism work. The authors analyze womanism in detail and propose ways in which this framework can be applied more broadly in examinations of community engagement among women of color, and specifically Black women.