It was suggested in a tweet that @BBCHistoryMag is at fault. Yes and no. Despite assertions to the contrary there is no lack of Black voices, US and UK, to speak on premodern Black English peoples’ lives. No excuse @BBCHistoryMag or Emily Weissbourd et al.
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Black scholars working on premodern Black peoples' histories are discoverable, especially since most of our work is all over the internet, in scholarly publications, on the Folger Library’s website, on UK early modern websites, and
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What’s egregious, and self-serving in these takes, is the white academic’s unwillingness to defer to Black scholarly voices. To be seen as an expert in “premodern race studies” outweighs any real commitment to the dismantling of academic white supremacy.
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To silence your "public humanities" voice in favor of a Black "public humanities" voice who started the field? On whose research you’ve established your career? Do you recognize each time you write/speak on the issue you're policing a Black academic body?
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I’ve come to the conclusion citation is not enough. It is merely another means to effect/sustain white control over BIPOC academic research. To regulate our voices not just to the margins, but to make of us shadow puppets that validate your work.
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Premodern white academics, when asked to speak/write about premodern race, premodern BIPOC peoples, about the weight of African enslavement on English settler colonialism, about the erasure of BIPOC sovereignty over their bodies and their lands: Refuse.
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Make your colleagues/peers the public voice on this topic. Direct the requestor to the academic descendants of the enslaved, the indigenous, and the colonized who have researched/published on the issues.
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Silence your white voices, defund your privilege to speak for us all. We really don't need you to do so. Nor do our ancestors. White premodern colleagues, this is how you end academic white supremacy...if you’re truly an ally. Periodt
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*All of this will end up in a publication so don't worry about typos; a proofreader will catch them. Worry about the content instead. Signed Margo Hendricks, Professor in early modern English literature and culture (just in case you're wondering)
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YES. ALL OF THIS.
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