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Narrative: The Road to Black Feminist Theory
Open accessAbstract
These terms are used more or less interchangeably throughout the essay.Capitalizing "Narrative" can be seen as a means of elevating the status and importance of the word.In this way, Narrative is not simply a style or genre or writing, but rather a way of life and communication.3. 1 use "Black:' acknowledging that some members of the community of the African diaspora may prefer African-Canadian or African-American.Given the history of names imposed on these groups, i.e. "Negro" or "Colored," it is important that, whether one identifies as Black, African-American/Canadian, or Other, one is able to name oneself and reclaim the power of voice and identity.
Overview
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Written by AI from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This essay argues that storytelling or Narrative is a legitimate method and foundation for Black feminist theory, not merely a cultural or entertainment practice. It contends that Black women’s lived experience and stories should ground theory, while reflecting on the author’s own difficulty writing in a purely narrative form within academic conventions.
Key findings
- Narrative is rooted in African-American oral tradition and serves as education, resistance, and identity formation, allowing marginalized groups to counter dominant legal stories and assert their own realities.
- Drawing on critical race and Black feminist scholars, the paper argues Narrative builds group solidarity, challenges the dominant “majoritarian mindset,” and supports the “Voice of Color” and historical-race analysis.
- Black Feminist Theory is presented as a rearticulation of an existing consciousness, with experience at its center; Guy-Sheftall’s framework lists five commonalities, including the linked racist, sexist, and classist oppression of Black women (“triple jeopardy”) and simultaneous struggles for Black liberation and gender equality.
- The author concludes Narrative is the most practical method for a distinctive Black Feminist Theory, though she notes in a postscript that her own paper ended up using conventional academic structure rather than letting stories carry the theory.
Methods
- Theoretical/narrative essay in a law journal, not an empirical study; no sample, dataset, or formal analysis is used.
- It synthesizes critical race theory, Black feminist thought, and legal storytelling scholarship with personal reflection.
- The argument proceeds by critiquing legal theory’s inaccessibility and abstraction, then applying Narrative to Black Feminist Theory.
Limitations
- Stated by the author in the postscript: she intended the stories themselves to unfold the theory, but the paper took a conventional academic form; she feared complicity in privileging academic structure over narrative and found it hard to incorporate storytelling coherently.
- Stated/acknowledged: the paper warns against treating Black women’s experience as monolithic, even while identifying commonalities.
- Evident from the text: no empirical data or systematic comparative analysis; claims rest on normative argument and secondary sources, and the scope is primarily African-American/Black women’s experience rather than a generalizable study.
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Claims the paper makes
39 Own interpretation · 19 Sources not found
In the paper
“the historical treatment of people of color (African Americans in particular) as people of lesser human status, and in some cases as less than human, has greatly influenced the present day perception and treatment of people of color.”
§ The Road to Black Feminist Theory > II. THE COMMUNITY OF STORIES
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [27]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
boostedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Storytelling emboldens the hearer, who may have had the same thoughts and experiences the storyteller describes, but hesitated to give them voice.”
§ The Road to Black Feminist Theory > II. THE COMMUNITY OF STORIES
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [19]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
hedgedstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“In fact, “Narrative has emerged as the preferred genre of scholarship for scholars of color... .”9”
§ The Road to Black Feminist Theory > I. STORIES FROM THE MARGIN
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [9]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Thus, in promoting group solidarity, storytelling also ensures group self-empowerment.20”
§ The Road to Black Feminist Theory > II. THE COMMUNITY OF STORIES
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [20]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
In the paper
“Second, Narrative functions to challenge the “majoritarian mindset.””
§ The Road to Black Feminist Theory > II. THE COMMUNITY OF STORIES
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [21]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
- Probably not a substantial claim. 50
- It may state two separate claims as one. 14
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Citations
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“Therefore, researchers like Amoah (1997), Lindsay-Dennis (2015), and Ogbonnaya (1994) among others, have called for teaching and research methods that honor Black women’s unique educational needs, that honor the uniqueness of Black women’s experiences, and that acknowledge her cultural and…”
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“Our conversations followed feminist narratives, used to explore participants' stories while equally encouraging each other to be active agents of our lives (Amoah, 2013; Collins, 2000; Collins, 2019; Hooks, 1984; Tracy, 2013).”
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“…inquiry is “the study of experience as story” (Connelly & Clandinin, 2006, p. 477), based on the recognition that we come to understand ourselves, one another, and our individual and collective lives through stories we tell and are told (Amoah, 1997; Connelly & Clandinin, 2006; King, 2003).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Amoah, J.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Amoah, Jewel
- Venue
- Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice
- Publisher
- Berkeley Journal of Gender Law & Justice
- Published
- 1997
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 84
- OpenAlex
- W44259924
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- bepress Legal Repository (submittedVersion)
- Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice
- UC Berkeley
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Feminist Theory and Gender Studies
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
- Keywords
- Black feminist theory, narrative, storytelling, grandmother, legal education
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