Students, faculty and scholars gathered Tuesday afternoon for a special presentation by Dr. Catherine Knight Steele, the University of Maryland assistant professor and director of the African American History, Culture and Digital Humanities (AADHum) program.
The presentation was part of a speaker series hosted by The Baha’i Chair for World Peace that highlights topics of structural racism and root causes of prejudice in society. Although Steele usually dedicates her time to AADHum and the Department of Communications, she is currently on research leave for the spring semester. Steele is working on her book manuscript, “Digital Black Feminism.”
In her presentation, Steele dissected the black feminist blogosphere as a way to better understand how digital black feminists use digital technology as a communicative tool that is both innovative and liberating. Steele also highlighted the popular #BlackGirlMagic. She explored how hashtags like this misconstrue “the centuries of wisdom, labor and ingenuity that have put black women in a position to do the longsuffering and thankless work that looks to outsiders as magic,” according to The Baha’i Chari for World Peace.
According to Steele, the myth of #BlackGirlMagic “is indicative of the ordinary everyday magic of just existing as black women.”
“Black women were doing things that white western culture was deeply committed to teaching us we were incapable of doing — mothering, being students, cooking healthy meals, working, out, organizing for justice, being pretty,” Steele said. “Black girl magic isn’t indicative of some super natural inexplicable power possessed by black women. Rather, black girl magic is the shorthand for centuries of practice that black women have done everything for everyone while maintaining their dignity.”
Martha Dominguez, a sophomore psychology major, attended the lecture for a psychology assignment about diversity.
“One of the topics that stood out to me was that black girl magic can sometimes become demeaning of the hard work of black women,” Dominguez said.
Steele highlighted the difference between white feminism and black feminism.“Black feminism is not a reaction to a problem with white feminism, because that assumes white women are the sole founders and fashioners of feminism at large,” Steele said. “Rather, black feminism is a space where the thought theory and practice of black women can flourish without interference.”
Cydnee Jordan, a junior public policy major, had the opportunity to ask for Steele’s opinion on the corporatization of the word “feminist” during her presentation.
“I loved every word of this presentation,” Jordan said. “I resonated most with how real this topic is for me personally. Growing up in black enclaves really shaped me into the person I am today, so to feel so seen in research like this felt amazing.”
Steele also led a panel discussion earlier in the month as a part of her work with the African American Digital Humanities program. Steele will be devoting the rest of this semester to researching and writing on the topic of black feminism and its intersection with digital technologies.