Where We Stand

The instant bestseller from Djamila Ribeiro that sparked a major Black feminist movement in Brazil

In a society shaped by the legacies of enslavement, white supremacy, and sexism, who has the right to a voice? In this elegant essay, Djamila Ribeiro offers a compelling intervention into contemporary discussions of power and identity: the concept of "speaking place." A crucial component of conversations on race and gender in Brazil, speaking place is the idea that everyone has a social position in the world and that what we are able to say, and how it is received by others, depends on it. Ribeiro traces the history of Black feminist thought through several centuries, examining the ways that Black women have been silenced, ignored, and punished for speaking.

Building on feminist standpoint theory, and in conversation with the works of Sojourner Truth, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and others, Ribeiro invites all of us to recognize where we stand, to imagine geographies different from those we've inherited, and to speak a more humane world into being.

Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 08/27/2024
Pages: 104
ISBN: 9780300269642

About the Author
Djamila Ribeiro is a philosopher, essayist, editor, and one of the most influential leaders in the Afro-Brazilian women's rights movement. Padma Viswanathan is a novelist, nonfiction writer, and translator. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novelist and nonfiction writer.