Geniuses of resistance: feminist consciousness and the Black radical tradition

Abstract

This article contests the criticisms of Black Marxism, asa basically masculinist text, that have circulated mainly in oral form. Based in part on an interview with Robinson, the article explores the concept of a closed, top-down narrative, which permits no further engagement or activity on the part of the reader, and an open-ended text, based on a methodology such as Robinson’s, which can act as a point of departure for other activist scholars. The article develops the notion of resistance itself as gendered, which is particularly evident in Robinson’s later work, and argues that the simplistic inclusion of women does not, of itself, render a text feminist.