Knowledge Bank

Black women occupy a unique and paradoxical role in American civic life. On the one hand, Black women experience a particular set of oppressions related to their race and gender identities that systematically disadvantage them and present barriers to civic and political engagement. On the other hand, Black women have also played, and continue to play, a prominent role in advocating for change, pushing for reform, and fighting for equity and justice in the United States. Thus, in this thesis, I examine Black women's everyday acts of resistance against anti-Black police violence within and outside of their communities as well as their motivations for doing so in effort to better understand this paradox. Examining these acts will promote a more holistic understanding of and appreciation for how Black women across various social and class backgrounds protect themselves and their communities from police violence (Elliot & Reid, 2019). It will also help our understanding of how these everyday acts of resistance may contribute to broader efforts to combat police violence and racial injustice, challenging normative definitions of political and social engagement.