ABSTRACT
In 1996 cultural critic Ann duCille wryly remarked on a curious phenomenon developing at the time of her writing: "within the modern academy, racial and gender alterity has become a hot commodity that has claimed Black women as its principle signifier". While duCille carefully maintains that the being Black is not "a title deed to the African American studies", she does make a political and ethical demand addressed to both Black and non-Black scholars alike. Of course, citing Black feminists requires knowing their scholarship and the tradition that it creates, thoroughly and responsibly. Zensele Isoke's Urban Black Women and the Politics of Resistance examines the culture of Black women's activism and organizing in Newark, persuasively arguing that the value of their work lies in their ability to create affective and relational spaces where Black people are protected from the ideological and physical violence of anti-Blackness.
