Digital Black Feminism - (Critical Cultural Communication) by Catherine Knight Steele (Paperback)

About the Book

"This book traces the long arc of Black women's relationship with technology from the antebellum south to the social media era demonstrating how digital culture transforms and is transformed by Black feminist thought"--

Book Synopsis

Winner, Diamond Anniversary Book Award, awarded by the National Communication Association
Winner, 2022 Nancy Baym Book Award, given by the Association of Internet Researchers

Traces the longstanding relationship between technology and Black feminist thought

Black women are at the forefront of some of this century's most important discussions about technology: trolling, online harassment, algorithmic bias, and influencer culture. But, Catherine Knight Steele argues that Black women's relationship to technology began long before the advent of Twitter or Instagram. To truly "listen to Black women," Steele points to the history of Black feminist technoculture in the United States and its ability to decenter white supremacy and patriarchy in a conversation about the future of technology. Using the virtual beauty shop as a metaphor, Digital Black Feminism walks readers through the technical skill, communicative expertise, and entrepreneurial acumen of Black women's labor--born of survival strategies and economic necessity--both on and offline.

Positioning Black women at the center of our discourse about the past, present, and future of technology, Steele offers a through-line from the writing of early twentieth-century Black women to the bloggers and social media mavens of the twenty-first century. She makes connections among the letters, news articles, and essays of Black feminist writers of the past and a digital archive of blog posts, tweets, and Instagram stories of some of the most well-known Black feminist writers of our time. Linking narratives and existing literature about Black women's technology use in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century, Digital Black Feminism traverses the bounds between historical and archival analysis and empirical internet studies, forcing a reconciliation between fields and methods that are not always in conversation. As the work of Black feminist writers now reaches its widest audience online, Steele offers both hopefulness and caution on the implications of Black feminism becoming a digital product.

Review Quotes

"Digital Black Feminism provides a framework for Black women to rightfully occupy a space in our society that acknowledges and values their existence, positioning Black feminists at the center of digital studies from the standpoint of Black women."-- "Resources for Gender and Women's Studies"

"Digital Black Feminism reemphasizes the history of marginalization of Black women in the field of technology that acts as tools for social justice by and for Black women, including physical and virtual beauty shops, digital platforms for storytelling, and creative works. Steele's examination and definitive conversations regarding digital Black feminism are intuitive, inspiring, and engaging."-- "Journal of Popular Culture"

"Critically engages the digital possibilities of contemporary Black feminist thought and, in doing so, charts important new directions for Black feminism and technoculture. Steele argues that Black women's creation of Digital Black Feminism reflects a sophisticated digital praxis that builds upon yet stands apart from historical traditions of Black feminist thought and hip hop feminism. A must-read book for understanding the possibilities and limitations of digital spaces for social justice projects."-- "Patricia Hill Collins, author of Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment"

"First, Steele positions Black women online as central to the future of communication technology just as they've been central to its past. Second, per its title, Digital Black Feminism traces and critically examines a evolutionary shift in Black feminism thought, one driven and enabled by new technology ... For a book with heft, it strikes an impressive balance of accessibility and intellectual innovation."-- "NPR Books"

"Steele emphasizes how digital Black feminists specifically broaden traditional conceptualizations of activism, complicate ideas of appropriate allegiances, and actively engage with contradictions in Black communities...The author's analysis of contemporary Black feminist digital enclaves and counter publics and her engagement with current practices and vernacular within Black communities make the text topical and compelling."--K. Gentles-Peart, Roger Williams University "Choice"

"Steele's careful consideration of what and whom to research, particularly with regard to Black women and other marginalized groups, is an ethical model that other social media researchers should take seriously as well. Digital Black Feminism moves the work of digital black feminism from the margins to the center, where the personal is not only political but digital."-- "Film Quarterly"

"This book is a must-read in a time when we need to redouble our commitments to social justice. Catherine Knight Steele helps us understand and celebrate the powerful work that Black feminists do to make the world a better place."-- "Safiya Umoja Noble, author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism"

"With this accessible volume, Catherine Knight Steele has offered readers a compelling explanation of Black feminist technoculture. Black women have long been at the forefront of technological advances, creation and dialogue; Steele skillfully traces their influence into the present and future."-- "Ms. Magazine"

About the Author

Catherine Knight Steele is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park, with affiliate appointments in the American Studies department, the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, and the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.