Event: VIRTUAL PIZZA TALK: “The Will to Adorn”: A Black Feminist Archaeology of Sartorial Choice in Post-emancipation Texas

Dr. Ayana Omilade Flewellen, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, UC Riverside
Wednesday, October 21st, 12:00pm - 1:00pm PT

Amid racialized servitude, sexual exploitation, and economic disenfranchisement, that marked the post-emancipation era in the United States, African American women were styling their hair with combs, lacing glass beads around their necks, dyeing coarse-cotton fabric with indigo-berry and sweetgum bark, and fastening buttons to adorn their bodies and dress their social lives. Through an analysis of material culture and documentary data, Dr. Flewellen’s work examines the complex interplay between structural forms of oppression and agency by focusing on the ways African Diasporic women used dress to negotiate racism, sexual exploitation, and exploitive capitalism from slavery through freedom. This talk will outline the flesh and texture of Black Feminist Archaeology, as a theoretical and methodological framework that centers on the lived experiences of enslaved Africans and their descendants as a means for the production of knowledge. Focusing on Dr. Flewellen’s research on gendered African Diasporic sartorial practices, this presentation aims to articulate Black Feminist Archaeology at the interstices of digital humanities, historical archaeology, and Black feminism. 

Register for this Cotsen Virtual Pizza Talk here! You will receive instructions on viewing the talk after registering.