“Vengeance Feminism,” a new book by National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of African American Studies Kali Gross, features previously overlooked stories of Black women who had to fight back — often quite literally — against discrimination, racial injustice, physical and verbal abuse, and other challenges.
“I wrote a book with a new narrative — with examples of the most impoverished Black women fighting back against racism and sexism in society and in the legal system and finding ways to win,” Gross says. “They won on their own terms and in the process compelled the larger society to grapple with Black womanhood in new ways.”
Gross has taught several courses at Emory that deal with themes discussed in the book, including an undergraduate course called “Black Women Who Kill,” and a graduate course called “Violence and Vice: New Readings in African American Women’s History.”
“Both courses grappled with how the legal system’s failure to equally and adequately protect and recognize Black women’s humanity contributed to Black women taking matters of justice into their own hands,” she says.
In the classes, students learned how women faced discrimination from direct attacks and the legal system. When they engaged in self-defense, they were punished and targeted by the same system that denied them any protection.
The book also engages readers with vivid descriptions and characters.
“While the book is deeply researched, it’s not written in a typical academic voice,” Gross says. “When you read it, you learn about the folks, the characters and the types of neighborhoods they walked through.”
A compelling new narrative
“I wrote this book because I want America to get up close and personal with narratives about Black women who win, and not easily digestible wins after heroic perseverance against bald-faced racist tyranny either,” Gross says. “It has to be messy, uncomfortable and complicated. Because that is who we are.”
During the period in which this book take place, there were types of violence that were completely legal for white men, such as dueling, but were criminalized for Black people.
“When it seemed like the decks were stacked against them and they had no chance, they found ways to be self-determining and avenge themselves in these spaces,” Gross says.
Unsung heroes and relevance to current times
The book tells a new narrative and stories of Black women that are often neglected in traditional history books and teachings.
“The thing I want to make clear is resistance is a major theme in Black women’s history, and a lot of the resistance we focus on tends to be noble, nonviolent and honorable,” Gross says.
There are many parallels that can be drawn from the book to current issues that are impacting Black women today, such as reproductive justice and discrimination within the legal system.
“There is a whole chapter about women taking control of their reproductive systems,” Gross says.
The book offers a fresh perspective by giving examples of women who avenged themselves in unconventional ways, and usually beyond the bounds of the law.
“Much of Black women’s history in the justice system is pretty unrelenting to begin with,” Gross says. “I wanted something other than the suffering, the losing — I needed something more complicated.”
About Kali Gross
Kali Gross has authored several other books, including “Black Women’s History of the United States,” “Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso” and “Colored Amazons.” She is a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians. A focus of her research is on Black women’s historical experiences in the U.S. criminal justice system. Her expertise and opinions have been featured in news outlets such as The Washington Post, The Root, TIME and BBC. She has appeared on outlets including ABC, C-Span, NBC and NPR.