In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement Hardcover Author: Visit Amazon's Paula Giddings Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0688057756 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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From Publishers Weekly
Marking the 75th anniversary of the largest black women's organization in the United States, this history of the college-based movement is an account filled with incidents of the emergence of the Deltas as a force in our national life. Giddings ( When and Where I Enter ), a graduate of Howard University, the birthplace of the movement, acknowledges the ambivalence that membership causes some, but focuses on the strengths of the sorority whose members typically remain active after college years. A sense of racial obligation permeates the sorority, which comprises women who are largely professional and upper-class, and who see their role as agents of change in a variety of social and political issues. Included among recent luminaries are Barbara Jordan, congresswoman from Texas, and, from the arts, Lena Horne, Leontyne Price and Ruby Dee. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Paula J. Giddings is the Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922 Professor in Afro-American Studies at Smith College and the author of When and Where I Enter and In Search of Sisterhood.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Direct download links available for Download In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement Hardcover
- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (July 1988)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0688057756
- ISBN-13: 978-0688057756
- Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 6.2 x 9.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
I was never a Greek, but I read this book because I am familiar with Delta Sigma Theta from their activities at my alma mater, and have enjoyed Paula Giddings's other research about black women's history. Unsurprisingly, I also enjoyed this book. It explains how Delta Sigma Theta provided a critical organizing space for collegiate black women in an era trying to make them choose between the identities and at a time when their being in college itself was a rarity.
In addition to the social events, this sorority also had explicitly political events. From inception, DST worked for civil rights, reflecting their steadfast belief in community progress through community service. While other Greek organizations do community service here-and-there, this is the backbone of DST according to Giddings.
Their first public act was participation in a women's suffrage march (pp. 55-60). Unfortunately, some of the white suffragists they marched with were not grasping the importance of opposing racism (pp. 56-57, pp. 59-60) while opposing sexism. Before 'intersecting identities' became a buzz word in feminist research circles, DST members already understood they could not choose between being a woman or a black. The social justice they embraced and advanced consequently had to recognize them as being both.
The list of Deltas who were in public service is inspiring. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Betty Shabazz, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisolm, and Marian Wright Edelman are only a few. Even though the organization also faced charges of elitism, DST ultimately comes across as one of the most accessible service organizations. In addition to supporting suffrage, the organization opposed lynching and reached out to single mothers (pp.
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