A Radical Reconstruction of Resistance Strategies: Black Girls and Black Women Reclaiming Our Power Using Transdisciplinary Applied Social Justice©, Ma'at, and Rites of Passage

Abstract

Heeding the call for Black Women's Studies to move from theory to praxis, the Transdisciplinary Applied Social Justice model provides a theoretical and methodological approach for social justice change, with an emphasis on praxis. In this article, the model is used to examine the lived reality and effects of intersectional race, class, and gender oppression on African American girls and women. Their high unemployment rates, incarceration rates, disenfranchisement rates, and health care disparity rates demonstrate that a very real "Black female crisis" exists. This article encourages a radical reconstruction of resistance strategies by African American girls and women. It suggests that they can reclaim their power by embracing ancient African thought, traditions, and practices, as symbolized by Ma'at and rites of passage programs.