An intersectional criminology analysis of black women’s collective resistance

By examining anti-Black violence against Black organizing efforts, we investigate how Black women have been punished by the State in both historical and contemporary contexts, particularly for committing crimes of resistance. Relying on intersectional criminology, this chapter explores the role of race and gender in the commission of punishment against Black women involved in organizations considered dissident by the State and the intersectional nature of Black female criminality as resistance. We argue that activists using the tools of social movements attempt to resist the State and bring attention to wrongs by the State while the State commits crimes against these activists. The examination of historical and contemporary cases of Black women radicals and State violence informs the qualitative differences between past acts of State violence and the actions of the State today.