Ebooks for the Classroom+Faculty

Sistuhs in the Struggle : An Oral History of Black Arts Movement Theater and Performance
ISBN: 9780810142589
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Northwestern University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Fine Arts;

Outstanding Academic Title, CHOICE

The first oral history to fully explore the contributions of black women intellectuals to the Black Arts Movement, Sistuhs in the Struggle reclaims a vital yet under-researched chapter in African American, women's, and theater history. This groundbreaking study documents how black women theater artists and activists--many of whom worked behind the scenes as directors, designers, producers, stage managers, and artistic directors--disseminated the black aesthetic and emboldened their communities.

Drawing on nearly thirty original interviews with well-known artists such as Ntozake Shange and Sonia Sanchez as well as less-studied figures including distinguished lighting designer Shirley Prendergast, dancer and choreographer Halifu Osumare, and three-time Tony-nominated writer and composer Micki Grant, La Donna L. Forsgren centers black women's cultural work as a crucial component of civil rights and black power activism. Sistuhs in the Struggle is an essential collection for theater scholars, historians, and students interested in learning how black women's art and activism both advanced and critiqued the ethos of the Black Arts and Black Power movements.

LA DONNA L. FORSGREN is an associate professor in the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of In Search of Our Warrior Mothers: Women Dramatists of the Black Arts Movement (Northwestern University Press, 2018).