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New Directions for The Womanist and |
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by Layli Phillips and Barbara McCaskill |
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| This is the second and last issue of
The Womanist: A Newsletter for Afrocentric Feminist Researchers. The overwhelming
positive response of womanists everywhere and the unanticipated amount of international publicity have allowed the growth of
the Womanist project beyond its original scope. Consequently, we are launching two new projects:
Womanist Theory &
Research and the Womanist Studies Consortium. The readiness of womanist scholars everywhere to submit full-fledged scholarly articles, despite the fact the The Womanist was billed as a "newsletter," has alerted us to the need for a journal which better can serve the needs of womanist and feminist-of-color scholars who find few outlets for or little receptivity to their work elsewhere. The time is right for womanists and womanism to take up more space, generate more visibility, and wield more influence at the table of ideas -- i.e., within the academy -- where knowledge is "officially" produced and validated. Getting womanist ideas printed and womanist work documented -- be it scholarly, creative, activist, or technical -- will increase the reservoir of information available for the facilitation of the social and technological problem-solving which is badly needed in this era of social, political, and economic oppression and environmental degradation. By its very definition womanism extends beyond the academy. Using the academy as a base of activity and incorporating womanists' implicit tendency to bridge the academic and non- academic spheres are contributions we know we can make, given the resources available to us. It is our hope that our project will: a) facilitate linkages between existing as well as emerging womanist and feminist-of-color projects nationally and globally, b) enlarge the definition of intellectual activity to encompass independent scholars and "everyday" genius, and c) foster the engagement of womanism and feminisms of color by audiences outside the womanist and feminist-of-color constituencies. To this end, we are launching Womanist Theory and Research, a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal devoted to cutting-edge womanist scholarship, art, activism, and praxis. The appearance of Womanist Theory and Research coincides with another new development: the creation of the Womanist Studies Consortium at the University of Georgia. This collaboration of womanist scholars in Georgia and surrounding regions, housed at the Institute for African-American Studies at The University of Georgia and co-directed by Layli Phillips and Barbara McCaskill, has been awarded a generous, four-year Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities for the institution of a research center for postdoctoral fellows. The Consortium will sponsor three kinds of Fellowships: Flexible, Single-Parent, and Summer Seminar. Flexible Fellowships will permit up to ten consecutive or non-consecutive months of residency for one Fellow per year. Single-Parent Fellowships will allow a summer quarter of residency plus assistance with child-care arrangements for one Fellow per year. Summer Seminar Fellowships will fund participation in a month-long seminar for six Fellows per year, aimed at the development of papers for a thematically specific, edited volume. Beginning in Fall 1995, application guidelines and deadlines will be advertised through a variety of means, including Rockefeller Foundation publications, Womanist Theory & Research, The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Internet, and direct mail. In addition, the Consortium will sponsor internships to promote the involvement and development of budding and potential womanist scholars. Together, Womanist Theory and Research and the Womanist Studies Consortium present some new opportunities for womanists and feminists-of-color everywhere. We stand on the shoulders of the womanist and feminist-of-color giants and trailblazers who have come before and who continue to work in this endeavor. They include two Black feminist organizations, personally influential to us, which we have recognized on the covers of The Womanist: the Sage Collective and Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. They also include many others, to whom we will give due recognition on future covers of Womanist Theory and Research. So look ahead! |