Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad

LaRoche, Cheryl Janifer

doi:10.5406/illinois/9780252038044.001.0001

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, as Cheryl LaRoche writes, the AME church of Rocky Flat, Illinois, pledged after the Civil War to "always be a refuge against trouble and strife-and continues that tradition today." 72 At stake in that pledge is a weathered sense of the perennial trouble, strife, and torn-ness of the threads of humanity and also of the redemptive, potentially transformative power of continually offering sanctuary.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reimagining Fugitive Democracy and Transformative Sanctuary with Black Frontline Communities in the Underground Railroad

Haro

Coles

2019

Political Theory

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article engages new histories of the black frontline communities of the Underground Railroad to rethink both fugitive democracy and the transformative possibilities of sanctuary as its constitutive twin. We analyze the ways that communities of free blacks and fugitives in the border zones between the Antebellum US North and South crafted themselves as magnetic spaces of creative refuge that suggest we reconceive sanctuary as the generative twin of fugitivity. This insight enables us to theorize new ethical and political dimensions of Sheldon Wolin’s concept fugitive democracy by illuminating how fugitivity as flight away from danger can be interwoven with sanctuary as flight into and toward alternatives. Specifically, we theorize three dimensions of fugitive democracy/transformative sanctuary—sanctuary tending, dramatic sanctuary, and disruptive hospitality. While some theorists have considered key motifs in Wolin’s fugitive democracy to be opposed to vital themes disclosed in contemporary theories of black fugitivity, we argue that the power of black frontline communities stemmed precisely from their capacities to dynamically entangle political approaches (mis)taken to be at odds. For example, we suggest a theory and practice of tending involving both nurturing care and militantly defensive action, dramatic sanctuary performances that amplify public power by oscillating between tricky concealment and flagrant publicity, and disruptive hospitality that interweaves law-breaking harbor with strategies for juridical and institutional change. These insights open onto an alternative imaginary that can also provide a toolbox for building grassroots democratic power today, particularly in the face of emergent neofascism and escalating displacement worldwide.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reimagining Fugitive Democracy and Transformative Sanctuary with Black Frontline Communities in the Underground Railroad

Haro

Coles

2019

Political Theory

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Underground Railroad is usually told as a freedom story, with White abolitionists as the central actors (LaRoche, 2014). Hossein (2018) draws on the work of Du Bois (1907), Marcus Garvey, Haynes (2018), andGordon Nembhard (2014b) among others to demonstrate that the rich history of Black cooperation, struggle, and resistance is a long legacy of those under attack.…”

Section: The Underground Railroadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black Feminists in the Third Sector: Here Is Why We Choose to use the term Solidarity Economy

Hossein

Pearson

2023

The Review of Black Political Economy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many countries in the Global North use the term “social economy”—also known as the third sector—to describe economies run by citizens rather than by state or business actors. Over the years, many Black feminist scholars that we have worked with also share the view that the concept of the “social economy” is limited to a European understanding. It fails to acknowledge those actors in the third sector who are excluded from interacting with the government or private sector. There is an assumption that the social economy is “socially inclined” and that it is a sector able to “interact” with the state and capitalist firms. What happens when certain groups of people cannot interact with the state or private sectors due to systemic exclusion? We argue that to transform literature on the social economy, we must use the term solidarity economy. Rejecting the sanitized language of the social economy, we use critical discourse and case study analyses to show the worldwide use of the term solidarity. Our work draws on theories of community economy intentional community to argue that the solidarity economy is a site of contestation and a way to push for social change.

show abstract

“…Formal institutions in the town included its school (Agbe-Davies & Martin 2013, Helton 2010. Members of McWorter's family both used and maintained the networks of the Underground Railroad (Alkalimat 2010, LaRoche 2014, Weik 2012.…”

Section: Expanding Mandatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To accomplish this end, institutions classify, prescribe behaviors, survey, and discipline (De Cunzo 2006, p. 182). But the flip side to the power of the institution, even one as totalizing as slavery, is resistance and transgression (Chan 2007, LaRoche 2014, Sayers 2014, Weik 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

African American Archaeology, for Now

Agbe-Davies

2022

Annu. Rev. Anthropol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A focus on institutions frames this examination of the archaeology of African America. While initially emphasizing the institution of slavery and theories of Black difference, the field today has a much wider scope. Researchers engaged in this work critically examine past and present-day institutions. As such, this review also considers the place of African American archaeology in engaged scholarship, critical theory, and self-reflexive practice. As in past reviews, the emphasis is on the United States, with occasional references to important work in the rest of the African diaspora. African American archaeology is shown to be inextricably interwoven with scholarly work in North American archaeology, African American studies, heritage studies, and social theory. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Anthropology Volume 51 is October 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

show abstract

Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Reimagining Fugitive Democracy and Transformative Sanctuary with Black Frontline Communities in the Underground Railroad

Reimagining Fugitive Democracy and Transformative Sanctuary with Black Frontline Communities in the Underground Railroad

Black Feminists in the Third Sector: Here Is Why We Choose to use the term Solidarity Economy

African American Archaeology, for Now

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About