Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Roots of “Strong Black Women” Ideology
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
12 Oct 2020
🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · Roots of “Strong Black Women” Ideology

Systemic oppression, from slavery to mass Black incarceration, has led Black women to value self-reliance, said Dr Ashlee Davis, supervising psychologist at Fordham University’s counseling center and author of an article titled, "Traditional Femininity Versus Strong Black Women Ideologies and Stress Among Black Women." During slavery and its aftermath, “African American women had to take on roles reflective of both traditionally feminine and traditionally masculine norms – having to be both the father and the mother,” said Davis.

Black Women

Related Podcasts

What We Stood For
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
What We Stood For: The Story of a Revolutionary Black Woman
08 March 2024
Deborah Jones is the author of the book, What We Stood For: Th
Former Teacher Shani Robinson Tells Her Story of Prosecution By Fani Willis
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Former Teacher Shani Robinson Tells Her Story of Prosecution By Fani Willis
01 September 2023
Shani Robinsontaught in the Atlanta, Georgia public school system.
Black Agenda Radio August 25, 2023
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio August 25, 2023
25 August 2023
In this week’s segment we discuss the continued attacks on abortion and reproductive rights and how they impact the lives of Black women, and how h

More Stories


  • Shirley Graham DuBois, and Kwame Nkrumah
    Jemima Pierre, BAR Editor and Contributor
    Africa and the Pan-African History of Black Studies
    11 Mar 2026
    This lecture was delivered on February 3, 2026, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Canada) for the monthly series “Black History and the Project of Black Studies.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change
    11 Mar 2026
    Dan Kovalik and Jeremy Kuzmarov’s Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change was published on September 1, 2025. What can it teach us now that the empire has pulled the trigger on three more nations…
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Everything they touch turns to rubble
    11 Mar 2026
    "Everything they touch turns to rubble" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Lindy Drolsum
    Prison System in Tennessee: A Cycle of Racism and Control
    11 Mar 2026
    Tennessee's claim of being "tough on crime" means racialized policing and incarceration, and profit making off of marginalized people.
  • Pan-African Community Action
    COMMUNITY CONTROL DC: A People’s Platform for Collective Self-Determination
    11 Mar 2026
    While Washington DC's political leadership changes, Pan-African Community Action (PACA) is organizing to ensure that Black communities are empowered in decision making processes.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us