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To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 1
Anti-racism, Black feminism, and protesting discourses
Philip P. Limerick, Centre College
Abstract
In Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) scholarship, the analysis of racism is a prominent endeavor.
Less emphasis has been given, however, to anti-racism and its associated discourse structures
(Van Dijk 2015, 2020). Furthermore, anti-racist movements and discourse frequently disregard
women (Cooper 2018). To fill this gap, the current chapter examines Black women’s protesting
discourses addressing anti-Black racism, Black Feminism, and the abolition of oppressive
systems. A thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006) of a series of YouTube videos of
conference talks and news reports surrounding Black feminism is employed to explore such
discourse. Findings reveal broad themes of police brutality and unaccountability, the importance
of transformative justice practices, and a call for direct action. The discourse structures and
rhetorical strategies observed in the video data include drawing upon speakers’ personal
experiences, expressing solidarity and collectivity through pronominal choice, the use of
numerical data, self-identification, and metaphor, among others. This analysis aids in furthering
our understanding of the ways in which anti-racist ideologies are reflected through protest
discourse regarding anti-racism in general, and Black feminism in particular.
Key words: Critical Discourse Studies, Protesting discourses, Anti-racism, Black feminism
1 Introduction
In Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) scholarship, the analysis of racism is a prominent
endeavor (e.g. Bonilla-Silva and Forman 2000; Wodak and Van Dijk 2000; Casaravilla 2003;
Van Dijk 2003, 2009; Courtis et al. 2009; Courtis 2012; Limerick 2020a; among many others).
Less attention has been paid, however, to anti-racism and its associated discourse properties
(Van Dijk 2020). Furthermore, anti-racist movements and discourse frequently exclude women
(Cooper 2018). The current chapter investigates Black women’s protesting discourses addressing
anti-Black racism in general, and Black Feminism in particular, in order to fill this gap in the
CDS literature.
1
The framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) seeks to examine
“structural relationships of dominance, discrimination, power and control as manifested in
language” and to “investigate critically social inequality as it is expressed, constituted,
legitimised, and so on, by language use (or in discourse)” (Wodak and Meyer 2009:10).
1
In addressing Black Feminism, I recognize my positionality as a white man. I am aware that I am in a privileged
position and am unaffected by the implications of the issues discussed. My ultimate aim is to make Black Feminist
voices heard.
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 2
The data for this study were gathered from five YouTube videos that included both
conference lectures and news shows about Black Feminism. We will begin by laying the
groundwork for the analysis, including definitions of key theoretical terminology and previous
research on (anti) racist discourse. Next, the investigation's methodology will be presented,
followed by the analysis and discussion of the video data. The chapter ends with a conclusion of
the analysis as well as suggestions for future research.
It is critical to define essential terminology such as (anti) racism and Black Feminism in
order to provide the necessary context. In this paper, racism is defined as a system of social
domination based on race or ethnicity (Bonilla-Silva 1997; Van Dijk 2005). That is, racism is
more than just a set of prejudiced attitudes or beliefs; it is a systemic component of society’s
fabric (Bonilla-Silva 1997). The topic of discourse and racism has generated a sizeable corpus of
research, particularly in Europe, the United States, and Latin America (see, for example, Bonilla-
Silva and Forman 2000; Wodak and Van Dijk 2000; Casaravilla 2003; Van Dijk 2003, 2009;
Courtis et al. 2009; Courtis 2012; Limerick 2020a). A number of discursive and rhetorical
strategies have been identified in the literature such as the denial of racism as positive-self
presentation, negative-other presentation, and apparent sympathy, among others. Further,
primary findings typically point to subtle forms of racism (but see, e.g., Moore and Bell 2019 on
overt racist speech on U.S. campuses) as seen and heard through the denial of racial
discrimination and the negative portrayal of minorities and immigrants in the press, media,
political discourse, etc. (Van Dijk 2003). However, as previously indicated, anti-racist speech
has received less emphasis.
2
In the current study, anti-racism is defined following Van Dijk’s
(2015:77) approach as a social system that “consists of a subsystem of anti-racist social practices
(protests, etc.) based on a subsystem of anti-racist social cognition (anti-racist ideology and anti-
racist attitudes)”. Van Dijk (2015) further highlights that anti-racist speech is one of the most
prominent anti-racist activities, as well as the means through which anti-racist cognitions are
learned and reproduced. (p. 77). This author has studied anti-racist discourse in Brazil
extensively, focusing on debates around anti-racist policies in the Brazilian government
including affirmative action and the Statute of Racial Equality, identifying various discursive
strategies (Van Dijk 2015, 2020). For instance, Van Dijk (2015:80) underscores the importance
of self-presentation in debates by Afro-Brazilian anti-racists, claiming that introductory
discourse concerning various social and ethnic identities (e.g. Black, militant, university rector,
etc.) serves to validate their participation in debates and to boost their credibility. Moreover, their
involvement in specific organizations (e.g. the government, labor movements) also fulfills this
purpose. Crucially, these self-presentations “guide the way the hearers will understand and
interpret the discourses of the speakers” (Van Dijk 2015:80). Additional discourse structures
underscored by Van Dijk (2015) include group identification (e.g. use of the pronoun nós ‘us’ to
signal Afro-Brazilian community membership), ‘Us vs. Them’ polarization between racists and
2
Some exceptions to the dearth of studies on anti-racist discourse include, for example, Every & Augoustinos
(2007), Fozdar (2008), Benwell (2012), Nelson (2015), and Van Dijk (2015, 2020).
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 3
anti-racists (and blacks vs. whites), arguments with implications and presuppositions, such as
implying that opponents of the Statute deny racism in Brazil or simply making the assumption
that Brazil presently suffers from racial inequality (e.g. we are fighting for equality), as well as
metaphors, the “numbers game” (statistics), and comparisons with other countries, among other
semantic structures.
3
Black Feminism, another key term and concept for the current chapter, dates back to the
1970s. According to Simien (2004), Black Feminism represents the idea that “African American
women are status deprived because they face discrimination on the basis of race and gender.
Having to bear the burdens of prejudice that challenge people of color, in addition to the various
forms of subjugation that hinder women, African American women are disadvantaged doubly in
the social, economic, and political structure of the United States” (Simien 2004:83). Black
Feminism has been the focus of a number of prominent scholars (e.g. Lorde 1984; hooks 1984;
Guy-Sheftall 1995; Smith 1995; Collins 2000; Simien 2004; among many others). Some of the
main issues addressed in Black Feminist literature are (a) Intersectionality (Crenshaw 1991;
Collins 2004), (b) Gender inequality among members of the Black community (Collins 2000;
hooks 1984), and (c) Solidarity and collective membership among Black women, particularly as
it relates to political activism (Wilcox 1990). The term intersectionality, first coined by Kimberlé
Crenshaw (1991), emphasizes the perspective that one must acknowledge simultaneously all
forms of oppression rather than merely one form independently from the others (Collins 2004).
We must engage, for instance, with race, class, and gender all together when dealing with
oppressive systems and marginalized people (Crenshaw 1991). Racial ideologies, for example,
are not only racialized, but they are also classed and gendered (Golash-Boza 2016).
The present investigation is informed by prior scholarship in (critical) discourse analysis
and pragmatics, and will engage with discourse structures such as lexical choice, presupposition
(Van Dijk 2015, 2020), and person-reference and identity (De Fina 1995, 2003; Limerick 2017),
among others, as these structures are reflected in the usage of discourse. The issue of person-
reference and identity will particularly examine the notions of solidarity or group membership
and identification (Martín-Rojo 1997) as well as personalization (i.e. personal participation) in a
certain topic through the use of pronominal choice (De Fina 1995) .
Furthermore, this investigation is an expansion of a preliminary study of Black feminist
discourse (Limerick 2021). Limerick (2021) analyzed YouTube videos, finding general themes
of the inclusion of Black women, police brutality and unaccountability, and Black Feminism
Defined. Discursively, strategies of presupposition, lexical choice, and pronominal choice were
observed, such as the recurring presupposition that there is no space for Black women in the
world, or the use of first-person plural pronouns to denote solidarity with Black women. The
current analysis seeks to elaborate on these preliminary themes, discuss new themes/subthemes,
3
See Van Dijk (2020) to gain a deeper perspective of anti-racist discourse in Brazil. For an investigation of anti-
racist and anti-populist discourse in the U.S., in particular concerning the Central Park Five case, see Limerick
(2020b).
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 4
and explore additional discursive strategies of Black feminist and anti-racist discourse. The
present study aims to answer following research questions:
1. What are the common themes that characterize Black feminist discourse in the video data?
2. What discursive strategies are employed in Black feminist discourse in particular, and anti-
racist discourse more generally as represented in the videos?
2 Methods
Five YouTube videos of Black Feminist discourse comprise the data for the current
study, which were located and selected using the search term “Black Feminism”. Factors such as
timeline and recency of discourse restricted the selection. Hence, from the fifteen pertinent
videos identified from the search, five videos that were uploaded during the last five years (2016-
2021) were chosen. This timeframe is significant given the recent intensification of anti-racist
movements in the U.S. such as Black Lives Matter, as well as recent resistance to the murdering
of Black women (e.g. Breonna Taylor). Moreover, videos primarily displaying formal academic
speech were discarded since extensive analyses of Black Feminist theory and academic discourse
already exists, as evidenced by the scholarship cited in the preceding section. Three of the videos
include informal conference lectures and panels, and the remaining two comprise news
programs. A listing of the videos appears below:
a. #SayHerName: Stories and Strategies to End Mass Criminalization” (Charlene Carruthers)
(University of New England 2016)
b. “Black feminism & the Movement for Black Lives” (Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene
Carruthers) (National LGBTQ Task Force 2016)
c. “Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall – Say Her Name: The Urgency of Black Feminism Now” (UW
[University of Washington])
d. PBS News Hour: “An 'unapologetic' black feminist on accelerating the pace of change” (PBS
News Hour 2019)
e. France 24 News: “The 51% Percent - The Rise of Black Feminism” (France 24 English 2017)
The current study used thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006), a qualitative method that
allows one to systematically develop themes based on recurring discourse topics, to explore
similar themes across the videos. In line with the perspective of Khan et al. (2019), rather than
focusing on collecting a robust dataset, the primary objective in the present analysis was to attain
a selective sample that generates analytically useful elucidations of the data (cf. Baker 2006).
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 5
3 Analysis and findings
Two major themes emerged from this expanded analysis of Black feminist video data
upon conducting the current analysis: (a) Police Brutality and Unaccountability (with a subtheme
of the abolition of police/prisons) and (b) Call for Action.
4
3.1 Theme 1: Police Brutality and Unaccountability
In the excerpt below, from “Say Her Name: The Urgency of Black Feminism Now”, Guy-
Sheftall cites a specific example of police brutality, the murder of Breonna Taylor. She also
highlights the unaccountability of police by referring to the attorney general that refused to punish
the police.
(1) Many of us are also now in a collective state of rage...at the murder of Breonna Taylor,
by Louisville police, and the early refusal of their attorney general, a Black Trump
supporter, to bring charges against the three police, who murdered her that night (UW
[University of Washington] 2021, 25:39)
Discursively, the pronominal choice of ‘us’ and the lexical choice of ‘collective’ emphasize
solidarity with other Black Feminists (see Martín-Rojo 1997; De Fina 2003). Moreover, the
choice to use ‘murder’ and ‘murdered’ and not simply ‘killing’ or ‘killed’ implies that the action
is unlawful and unjustified. Also interesting is the specification of the attorney general as a Black
Trump supporter. This additional usage of person reference further emphasizes the negative
aspects of the attorney general (see, e.g., Van Dijk 2015 on ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ polarization).
Another common topic commonly invoked in Black Feminist discourse as observed in
the video data is the abolition of police, and with that, of prisons. Thus, this could be considered
a subtheme of police brutality and unaccountability. For instance, Charlene Carruthers appeals to
transformative justice and the problems of employing police/prisons to solve problems:
(2) the numbers that tell us how often, ah black women and girls are sexually harassed by
police officers…and it's depressing right? it can be depressing but there's something we
can actually do about it [… ] the first thing we have to do is actually commit to looking to
restorative and transformative justice practices… that means that the police and prisons
are not our primary sights on how we deal with harm and conflicts in our
communities… I’ve yet in my lifetime ever had an experience where I called the police
and they actually helped… I've yet to have that experience maybe some of you have had
4
For a discussion of additional themes in Black feminist discourse, such as the inclusion of Black women and Black
feminism defined, as well as sub-themes such as Making space in the world, Reference to specific Black women,
Safety, Intersectionality, and Full Dignity, see Limerick’s (2021) preliminary analysis of the current data.
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 6
the experience…um but as a black, queer woman I've not had that experience as a black
child I did not have that experience it was not, that is not my experience… [24:06]
In the above excerpt, Carruthers first alludes to how common it is for Black women to be
sexually harassed by the police, which contextualizes her support for a shift toward
transformative justice practices. She then draws on her personal experience to highlight that the
police have never helped her when she needed help. Carruthers then notes (shortly afterwards)
that “there are models of this practice, right? In schools as an alternative to policing,
suspensions, and incarceration” [25:35]. In terms of discursive strategies, we see an appeal to
numbers and statistics (Van Dijk 2020) at the beginning of the above excerpt. Additionally, the
lexical choice of ‘depressing’ emphasizes the seriousness and the degree to which the harassment
of Black women negatively affects the speaker. At the same time, the conducive tag question
‘right?’ draws the audience in to a shared emotive experience and a sense of alignment with the
speaker regarding the previous proposition (Moore and Podesva 2009). The use of ‘we’ also
indicates solidarity with the audience and the call for collective action. Further, Carruthers
adopts a personal perspective in using ‘I’ to highlight her own experience, demonstrating a high
level of ‘involvement’ (De Fina 1995, 2003) by conveying an individualized and personalized
experience. Finally, she overtly identifies herself as a ‘black, queer women’ to underscore the
lack of help from police toward marginalized people, including herself. Such self-identification
is a key element of anti-racist discourse and is a part of the norms and values of anti-racist
ideologies (Van Dijk 2015). It also reflects Carruther’s intersectional identity (Crenshaw 1991)
as it combines race, sexual orientation, and gender simultaneously.
To reinforce the idea of abolition paired with transformative justice, Carruthers resists
popular discourse about abolition to emphasize that there is more to it than simply dismantling
systems:
(3) …abolition, despite what popular rhetoric may tell us is yes, about the dismantling of
violent systems like police, policing and prison, it is also about creating a world with
systems and institutions that allow us to live within our full dignity [28:43]
The lexical choice of ‘create’ aids in re-defining the idea of abolition to include building
something new (new systems) as an integral part of it. She then references more concrete
alternatives to police and forms of transformative justice by citing examples of places in the U.S.
where people have actually tried to implement such practices, such as alternative hotlines and
community response teams. Additionally, we see a subtheme of (lack of) safety, consistent with
what was observed in Limerick (2021).
(4) it's not a common held idea that you know actually the police don't keep us safe that is
our first instinct, we don't have other systems to look to, like, at wholesale there are
places and projects across the country where people are trying to create alternative
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 7
hotlines, community response teams, things like that, so what would it mean that when a
student- cuz we are on a college campus, when a student reports a sexual assault, what
happens?... you call security, right? I don't know if the person who has been assaulted
feels any safer just because security showed up, especially when often times the
perpetrators remains on campus, right? and so um, what would it mean to have a non-
police involved system where actually… the the person who assaulted the other person, is
held accountable for their actions, um and there's some type of process that involves
healing, a rest- a restoration of the person who was harmed?… right?…[38:11]
Discursively, we see a rhetorical question based on a non-existent system (non-police) in which
there was accountability. Such a questions generates a presupposition that perpetrators are not
currently held accountable, further echoing the main theme of unaccountability.
Another important point made (by both Barbara Smith and Charlene Carruthers)
concerning police and prisons is their lack of historical existence and their inherent connection to
slavery.
(5) Charlene: Police and prisons have not always existed…right? And they’ve been built on
the backs of Black people…right? So they’re not a [sic] absolute, so why not dream of
something different? […] if we look at the history of policing in America, they are rooted
in slave patrols
Barbara: Well that’s what I was going to say…so like their rela- their rela- their
existence in relationship to the history of people of African heritage is like this (crosses
fingers, indicating a close connection)
Charlene: is like this, yeah, and we have to completely break that apart [27:13]
Charlene rhetorically asks why we shouldn’t dream of something different, especially since these
systems are not inherent to the world (not an absolute). Barbara emphasizes such a close
connection between police and slavery, who which Charlene responds that we have to
“completely break that apart”.
Reina Gossett also remarks on the subtheme of abolition, highlighting that police and
prisons are “not built to deal with the real harm that happens in our community”, and that the
most harmful people in society are not the ones that actually go to prison:
(6) I think the thing that I think about is that, in terms of harm and violence, the people that
are doing the most harm will never be caged in a prison, the people who are doing the
most harm are actually running the prisons, they’re running the government, they’re
running ICE […] and it takes… a bit of a mind-frame shift to understand that police and
prisons are not built to deal with, the real harm that happens in our community, they are
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 8
about controlling and killing our community, and punishment and exiling people are
some of the biggest obstacles to solving harm that is so real in our community [29:50]
Reina also appeals to the deeply rooted and taken-for-granted ideology that police/prisons are
helpful in dealing with harm. This is particular evident with her lexical choice of “mind-frame
shift”. The idea of prison abolition comes up again, albeit briefly, in Guy-Sheftall’s lecture as she
refers to another Black feminist’s (Angela Davis) work:
(7) I’ve also been reading, um, because I’m very interested in Palestinian struggles Ive been
reading, which everybody should read, uh Angela Davis’s uh work about Palestine and
also her prison abolitionist work, “Are prisons obsolete?” [44:52]
Thus, through the above examples, we can see a deep connection between Black feminism, anti-
racism, and the problematic nature of police and prison systems.
3.2 Theme 2: Call to Action
This theme involved both a call to social and political action as well as a general
engaging in discussion or otherwise active role for change. Aside from the specific calls for
abolition and transformative justice discussed above, we also see a more general call to learn,
dialogue, and be active agents in improving the situation of anti-black racism, homophobia,
sexism, and other intersectional issues related to Black feminism. For example, Carruthers
emphasizes the necessity of actively dealing with struggles and putting Black queer feminist
values into practice as well as maintaining accountability:
(8) …and the difficult, the difficult and the heart-wrenching struggle that when you commit
to Black queer feminist values that you have to- actually have to struggle with and not
throw things underneath the, the bus, or the carpet, right? […] and we have a
responsibility, to like actually put our values into practice, and struggle with that and not
be perfect, right? and perfection isn’t the goal but integrity to our values is, and
accountability is. [23:02]
Discursively, her lexical choice of ‘commit’ underscores the cognitive realm of Black feminist
ideology (see Van Dijk’s 2015 sociocognitive approach). Reference to values is also consistent
with other studies of anti-racist discourse and reflects anti-racist ideologies (Van Dijk 2015).
Furthermore, Brittany Cooper alludes to a better future (where we can go) if we engage in Black
feminism. There is also a call for the active learning about Black feminist issues with the
proposition “it can teach you that too”. Moreover, aside from the use of ‘we’ to emphasize
collectivity, the use of the second-person singular ‘you’ draws in and involves the listener in the
experience (De Fina 2003).
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
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(9) putting those things together gives you a clarity and a vision about where we can go if
we stop, oppressing black folks and women and gender-non conforming folks…and so
black feminism taught me that, and I think it can teach you that too. [3:14]
Moreover, the proposition ‘if we stop oppressing…’ generates a presupposition that we currently
have not stopped oppressing blacks, women and gender non-conforming people.
Guy-Sheftalls’s discourse also emphasizes a call to action. She specifically points out the
things that are insufficient for change and for effectively engaging in Black feminist struggles:
(10) …we have to be unafraid to name, […] unafraid to name, the organizations, the people,
the treacherous things that happen in our uh, communities and outside of our
communities, in order to to to imagine or envision a new world, and and literally, as
John Lewis said, “make good trouble” so, spea- talking is not enough, reading is not
enough, we have- we have got to attach ourselves to um struggles national and global
that are trying very very hard to dismantle these, uh, structures. [47:58}
In this excerpt, she highlights that it is not enough to simply talk or read about these struggles,
but that it is essential to ‘attach ourselves’ to them, a metaphor for being very actively and
closely involved in struggles. Finally, Charlene Carruthers very explicitly outlines the goal of her
talk, which includes the audience taking direct action (doing something):
(11) …my job is to hopefully agitate you around some of the ideas that you hold most dearly
um make you a little bit uncomfortable and then make you want to do something
about it, right? after this…[4:37]
Additionally, the news report “The 51%”, which appeared on France 24, features the activism of
Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter (BLM) in Los Angeles. The reporter states
“every week, she takes to the streets to protest against social injustices that affect African
Americans [0:26]. The video simultaneously shows Melina and others protesting in the streets,
with the use of signs and speaking in megaphones, calling for direct action. In the background, a
protest sign reads “no justice no peace no racist police”. The reporter also states (referring to the
BLM Los Angeles founders) “they see their activism as a revival of Black feminism” [0:44].
Melina then remarks:
(12) the ushering in of feminism, right, really was to speak to the most privileged group of
women, um, we don’t believe in moving from that space of privilege, we believe in
empowering and lifting from the bottom [0:51]
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 10
In this example, Melina underscores the importance of centering marginalized voices, taking
action to empower Black women, and problematizing a feminist movement that consisted mostly
of privileged white women.
There are many more examples in the videos that illustrate the above themes and
discourse structures as they are pervasive among the data set. Although space does not permit a
more exhaustive discussion, the excerpts above reflect the types of topics and discourse
structures present in the videos, while both corroborating and adding to preliminary findings on
Black feminist discourse (Limerick 2021) and anti-racist discourse more generally (Van Dijk
2015, 2020).
3.3 Additional discourse strategies
Some additional discursive strategies observed in the current data included (a) reference
to specific Black women and (b) the numbers game (Van Dijk 2015, 2020). For instance, when
illustrating behaviors and discourses of racist misogyny in the U.S., Guy-Sheftall refers to
women such as Sekia Gunn, Michelle Obama, and Kamala Harris.
(13) …we continue to be outraged by the racist misogyny that Michelle Obama experienced
during her eight years in the white house.. and that also was visited upon Vice President-
elect Kamala Harris when she, was on the democratic ticket with Joe Biden […] in
August 2020, a car dealership in Massachusetts, not Georgia, not Alabama, not
Mississippi, erected a billboard which referred to Joe Biden and his VP pick as ‘Joe and
ho’… w-h-o-r-e, except they spelled it h-o-e… disgustingly, toxic Fox News, especially
Rush Limbaugh repeatedly claimed that Harris had brazenly slept her way into politics…
[26:44]
(14) I want to remember Sekia Gunn…a 15 year-old black lesbian who was murdered May
1st 2003 in Newark, New Jersey, during one of the most egregious hate crimes, that
captured the attention of Black feminists in particular… but not mainstream women's
movements or Black political organizations, I want to say her name tonight, as a
reminder of the Black woman hating, which also occurs within our own communities,
that regrettably does not get the attention or the analysis that police brutality against
Black men gets… [27:54]
The reference to specific women serves to humanize Black women and to illustrate the reality of
the harm done to them. This discursive practice of naming specific women corroborates
Limerick’s (2021) preliminary analysis of Black feminist discourse, in which reference was
made to Rekia Boyd. In other videos, such as #SayHerName, Melissa Carruthers references
names such as Tanisha Anderson and Marissa Alexander. In the above excerpt referencing Sekia
Gunn, we also see a common theme observed in Limerick (2021), namely the importance of the
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 11
inclusion of Black women. In this case, Guy-Sheftall refers specifically to Gunn’s exclusion
among women’s movements and Black organizations, and later discusses the lack of media
attention, rallies, or financial support for her family, in comparison to cases of Black men.
Moreover, we again see the lexical choice of ‘murder’ (as we did above in reference to Breonna
Taylor), implying an unlawful action.
Regarding the numbers game (Van Dijk 2015, 2020), the use of statistics and numerical
data was prevalent in the video data, which lends support to Van Dijk’s analyses of anti-racist
discourse. Below we provide just a few examples:
(15) In the United states, the unemployment rate among African-American women is close
to 10%, that’s double the national average [1:06]
(16) ...in 2013, um some of the more recent numbers, um, of all the women who were stopped
by police in the city of New York…over 50% of them were Black women, over fifty
percent, a little bit over 27% were Latino women and 13.4 % of them were white
women… Black folks make up about 27% of New York City's population, but over half of
the women stopped by police were Black women [22:43]
(17) from 2010 to 2011… nationally, 45% of Black women experienced sexual violence,
physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetimes, compared to 30%
for white women [31:41]
4 Discussion
4.1 What are the common themes that characterize Black feminist discourse in the video data?
Two primary themes developed from the video data analysis: (a) Police brutality and
unaccountability and (b) a call to action. A major sub-theme was also observed, namely the
abolition of police and prisons.
The discourse under investigation established a link to (anti) racism in general (and not
solely to Black feminism). It underscores the need of viewing racism as a structural issue rather
than a matter of individual prejudice (Bonilla-Silva 1997; Van Dijk 2005; among many others).
This was most evident in the videos' main theme of police brutality, which was continually
emphasized as an oppressive societal system. Furthermore, the present data support and reflect
Van Dijk's (2015) conceptualization of anti-racism. Anti-racist social practices were
seen through conference talks and news coverage surrounding Black feminism in particular, and
anti-racism in general. Significantly, these social practices were grounded in the speakers’ anti-
racist social cognitions (ideologies and attitudes).
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De Gruyter Mouton. 12
4.2 What discursive strategies are employed in Black feminist discourse in particular, and anti-
racist discourse more generally as represented in the videos?
The present analysis examined several discourse structures regarding lexical choice,
pronominal choice, presuppositions, and the incorporation of numerical data. “Depressing” and
“murder” were examples of lexical choice, highlighting the gravity and fatal effects of racism for
Black women, as well as the emotional toll it takes. Other lexical choices such as “create”,
“commit” and “mind-frame shift’ reflected the cognitive realm in protesting against racism and
imagining alternative systems to police and prisons. Regarding presuppositions, these included
the following: (a) we have not stopped oppressing marginalized people (e.g. Blacks, women, and
gender non-conforming people), and (b) perpetrators have no accountability. Concerning
pronominal choice, solidarity and collectivity were voiced by means of first-person plural
pronouns (Martín-Rojo 1997; De Fina 2003). First-person singular pronouns communicated an
individualized and personalized experience (e.g. I’ve yet in my lifetime ever had an experience
where I called the police and they actually helped) (De Fina 1995, 2003). Finally, we observed
strategies such as the reference to specific Black women (e.g. Sekia Gunn, Breonna Taylor,
Tanisha Anderson, Marissa Alexander) as well as the numbers game (e.g. 45% of Black women
experienced sexual violence) (Van Dijk 2015, 2020).
Significantly, many of these anti-racist rhetorical strategies and themes represent acts of
protest toward the dominant narratives found in racist discourse. Denial of racism, for example,
is a prominent strategy in discursive racism scholarship, as mentioned in the Introduction to this
chapter (e.g. Bonilla-Silva and Forman 2000; Van Dijk 2003; Zavala and Zariquiey 2009). The
present data illustrate explicit opposition to such denial by underscoring the reality and
prevalence of systematic racism in the U.S. (and other countries) and by engaging in protesting
discourses against the oppressive systems of racism, policing, and prisons. Furthermore, the
Black Feminist discourse showcased above demonstrates genuine sympathy and concern for the
marginalized and oppressed (e.g. I want to remember Sekia Gunn […] I want to say her name
tonight), which stands in opposition to the oft-cited strategy of ‘apparent’ sympathy for
marginalized people that is frequently part of racist discourse (Van Dijk 1997).
5 Conclusion
As one of the first studies (but see Limerick 2021) to examine the language of and about Black
Feminists from the viewpoint of Critical Discourse Studies, the current chapter addresses a
relatively unacknowledged area in the field. Additionally, it lays the groundwork for future
studies by revealing some fundamental structures and characteristics found in Black Feminist
protest discourse.
This research contributes to our understanding of how ideologies are manifested
linguistically by means of discourse surrounding anti-racism in general and Black Feminism in
particular. Importantly, the discourse examined in the video data reflects some of Black
To appear in Handbook of the Sociolinguistics of Protesting, ed. by Ashraf Abdelhay, Sinfree Makoni, and Christine Sovero.
De Gruyter Mouton. 13
Feminism's fundamental ideologies: Intersectionality, gender inequality in the Black community,
and solidarity among Black women.
The potential for future work on this topic is considerable. First, a larger sample size
would provide a more representative picture of Black Feminist language and its relationship to
anti-racist discourse in general. This could also uncover new themes that have not been
addressed in the current chapter. Moreover, it would be worthwhile to examine how people
responded to the videos by examining the YouTube text comments displayed underneath each
video. In so doing, we could gain an understanding as to how Black Feminist discourse is being
interpreted and to the types of ideologies that exist as a consequence of viewing content related
to Black Feminist and anti-racist discourse. Finally, future research should investigate the
educational applications of protest discourse analysis in order to magnify marginalized
perspectives and mobilize for social/political change. By reflecting on the media discussed in this
chapter, as well as other outlets with related discourse themes, we hope that anti-racist cognitions
can be further acquired and reproduced (Van Dijk 2015), and that the structures of and reactions
to protesting discourses can be better understood.
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